(CNN) — A French professional model recruiter who for over a decade arranged for the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein to meet multiple models, was found dead at his home near Paris on Monday.
Daniel Siad’s body was found in his house in Colombes, a suburb of the French capital, Marie-Céline Lawrysz, deputy public prosecutor at the Nanterre Judicial Court, told CNN in a Wednesday statement.
An autopsy will be performed on the body to determine the cause of death.
CNN’S Katie Polglase 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, modeling 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 an 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 modeling agency MC2. CNN found no evidence to support that claim.
The Paris Public Prosecutor’s office said an investigation they opened on Siad 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.
‘Too old’
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.”
“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.
Siad’s name appears more than 2,000 times in the DOJ’s Epstein files, CNN affiliate BFMTV reported.
Svetlana Pozhidaeva, a Russian-born model previously told CNN that Siad introduced her to Epstein, and that the digraced financier abused her.
“If it wasn’t for him, my life would have unfolded completely differently,” Pozhidaeva told CNN Wednesday. She said that Siad’s death meant that he could not be held accountable. “I wanted for justice to be served, for there to be some kind of investigation and achieve some closure,” she said.
Siad’s lawyer, Ménya Arab-Tigrine, said in a Wednesday statement that his client had been willing to “subject himself to the grueling 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 modeling 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.
CNN’s Katie Polglase, Barbara Arvanitidis, Elina Baudier Kim, Curt Devine and Isabelle Chapman contributed reporting
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