French modelling scout with links to Jeffrey Epstein found dead
Updated . First published at
A French professional model scout who arranged for multiple models to meet with late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has been found dead in his home outside Paris.
Daniel Siad, 69, was found in his home in Colombes, a suburb in southern Paris on Monday night (Tuesday morning AEST), a French prosecutor announced in a statement shared to media on Thursday.
Siad was one of many modelling insiders who continued to invite Epstein to fashion events even after he was convicted on sex crimes. CNN
Siad’s cause of death is not known, but an autopsy is set to be performed.
His name appeared nearly 2000 times in the Epstein files released by the US Department of Justice.
Since a wide-ranging probe into human trafficking and tax fraud was opened in February following the Epstein files release, 24 women have come forward as victims or witnesses of alleged acts committed by Siad or others, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said in a statement.
Files released by the Department of Justice show Epstein paid tens of thousands of dollars to Siad.
In one message, Siad wrote: “Cute French girl in Marrakesh… She said that she will (be) happy to meet you.”
Siad separately said that Epstein had asked him for help finding an assistant.
In a 2018 email, Siad wrote that he was looking for a “good looking young assistant” for Epstein.
In another message, Siad sent a photo to Epstein of a woman, describing her as “very polite” and someone who has “potential” as a “model” or “assistant”.
Siad allegedly sent emails and photos of young women to Jeffrey Epstein. House Oversight Committee Democrats/Reuters
“Too old,” Epstein replied.
Siad repeatedly sent Epstein photos of young women he encountered during his travels, some of them in provocative poses, according to the DOJ files.
CNN recently interviewed Siad, who said he had no reason to believe two women he had recommended to Epstein – and who had told CNN that Epstein had abused them – had been harmed by him.
Even after Epstein’s 2008 conviction on sex crimes, modelling industry insiders like Siad continued seeking business ventures with him, invited him to fashion events, and allowed him to associate with their companies.
Siad said Epstein had assured him he had paid for his crimes and that “this would never happen with anybody” that Siad referred to him.
“I trusted him and believed this guy was a professional person,” he told CNN in the interview published in June.
“I never heard anything from anyone I introduced to him who came back to me that they had a bad situation. I believed this guy is a professional person.”
Siad said he had believed Epstein was a casting director for Victoria’s Secret and the modelling agency MC2.
CNN found no evidence to support that claim.
The Paris Public Prosecutor’s said the broad Epstein-related investigations they launched in February, relating to allegations of human trafficking and criminal conspiracy would continue.
So far, 24 women have come forward or have been identified following a review of information and a call for victims by prosecutors. At least 16 women have been interviewed by investigators and additional interviews are due to take place.
But the prosecutors office said they still had not obtained enough evidence to arrest Siad.
“Daniel Siad was the subject of special investigative techniques, including telephone intercepts, although to date these have not produced evidence justifying his immediate arrest,” the office said.
Siad’s lawyer, Ménya Arab-Tigrine, said in a Wednesday statement that his client had been willing to “subject himself to the gruelling media spotlight…to see the truth come to light”.
“We must await the autopsy results to confirm whether his body simply gave out,” Arab-Tigrine said, adding that his client was innocent and had not been prosecuted or “formally implicated in any legal proceedings”.
Epstein’s ties to the modelling industry are part of ongoing investigations, which include a criminal probe launched this year in Paris that is reviewing information related to Siad, according to the city’s chief prosecutor.
Siad was also facing accusations of abuse.
A model also accused him of rape when she was working in France in 1990.
Siad denied the allegation.
- Reported with Reuters, CNN
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