A French model scout linked with the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was found dead at his house on the outskirts of Paris on Wednesday, French authorities reported.
Daniel Siad, 69, was being investigated for alleged links with Epstein's human trafficking network, something that he had denied before being questioned.
"An investigation to determine the cause of death was opened on Monday evening following the discovery," the prosecutor's office said.
Additionally, the prosecution said that it will carry out an autopsy on Siad's body in order to determine the details of his death.
Siad mentioned over 1,000 times in the Epstein files
Siad was mentioned in Epstein's declassified files over 1,000 times, according to Le Monde. he was also under investigation for several complaints, including allegations of rape.
According to one of the letters, Siad told Epstein: "In this busyness I feel like a fisherman; sometimes I catch quick, sometimes no fish."
During a recent interview for CNN, Siad denied the allegations against him.
“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," he said.
Siad's lawyer told Reuters in an emailed statement that the modeling scout was never formally the subject of judicial proceedings.
He also claimed to believe that Epstein was casting the women he sent for Victoria’s Secret and the modeling agency MC2.
Siad was not the only French businessman being investigated for trafficking women to Epstein. Modeling agent Jean-Luc Brunel was arrested in 2020 due to his ties to the late sex offender, only to be found dead in his cell in 2022, Le Monde reported.