A French model recruiter who had ties to the late convicted pedophile and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein was discovered dead in his home in France on Monday evening.
Daniel Siad, 69, was found dead in his home in Colombes — a suburb of Paris — Marie-Céline Lawrysz, the deputy public prosecutor at the Nanterre Judicial Court, said in a statement to CNN.
“An investigation to determine the cause of death was opened on Monday evening following the discovery,” said the Nanterre prosecutor’s office. An autopsy of Siad’s body will also be performed to determine his official cause of death.
Siad’s name was mentioned around 2,000 times in the Epstein files, which were released by the U.S. Department of Justice, Reuters reported. Despite the clear connection, Siad had denied any knowledge of Epstein’s evils. Previously, French media had reported that five women accused Siad of human trafficking and rape — accusations which he also denied.
Siad’s lawyer wrote an emailed statement to Reuters, saying that he was never formally the subject of judicial proceedings.
In France, after a preliminary probe, suspects are then placed under formal investigation. The preliminary probe is done to help investigative magistrates determine whether there are reasonable grounds to believe a crime has been committed — at which point, a deeper investigation might be warranted.
“Daniel Siad never stopped proclaiming his innocence,” said his lawyer, Meyna Arab-Tigrine. She added that “Siad had died of a heart attack.”
Anya, a victim of Epstein who used an alias, told the BBC that Siad had introduced her to the sex offender. “It was a complete set-up,” Anya said. She described Siad as “essentially a professional trafficker.”
Before his death, Siad was interviewed by CNN. He told the network that there was no reason for him to believe that two women he’d scouted for Epstein had been harmed — but the women told CNN a different story. Both women told CNN that they were abused by Epstein.
Siad continued doing business with Epstein even after Epstein’s 2008 conviction on sex crimes. He said he believed Epstein was a casting director for Victoria’s Secret and MC2, another modeling agency, but CNN did not find evidence of this.
“I trusted him and believed this guy was a professional person,” Siad told CNN. “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.”
In one email from the Epstein files, Siad wrote in bad English: “In This busyness I feel like fisherman some time I cache quick, some time no fish.”
The DOJ released files that revealed Epstein paid tens of thousands of dollars to Siad, according to CNN.
During his travels, Siad would send photos of young women to Epstein. Some pictures showed the women in very provocative poses, according to the DOJ.
“Cute French girl in Marrakesh … She said that she will [be] happy to meet you,” Siad said in one message.
Siad said that Epstein asked him to help find an assistant. Another message showed Siad sent Epstein a picture of a woman who was “very polite” and who had “potential” as a “model” or “assistant.”
“Too old,” Epstein replied.
Siad is the second man who died in France with a public relationship with Epstein, according to Reuters. Jean-Luc Brunel, a modelling agent, was arrested by French authorities in 2020 after allegedly acquiring women for Epstein.
In 2022, Brunel was found hanged in his prison cell after spending 14 months awaiting his trial on charges of sexual harassment and rape of minors. Brunel had denied both involvement with Epstein and the charges against him.
In 2019, Epstein committed suicide in his New York prison cell while in custody, awaiting his trial for sex trafficking.
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