Thorbjorn Jagland, a former prime minister of Norway, was charged with “gross corruption” in connection with his ties to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the Norwegian police said on Thursday.
Pal Lonseth, the chief of Norway’s economic crimes agency, told the state broadcaster NRK that several of Mr. Jagland’s properties had also been searched on Thursday. Mr. Jagland’s attorney said that his client was cooperating with the authorities.
Mr. Jagland was formally accused just a day after the Council of Europe, which he previously led, said on social media that ministers had voted to waive the diplomatic immunity that came with his former post at the request of Norwegian authorities “to pursue proceedings relating to allegations of aggravated corruption.”
Economic crime investigators last week opened an inquiry into the ties between Mr. Epstein, the disgraced financier who had cultivated connections among the global elite before his death by suicide in a New York jail in 2019, and Mr. Jagland, who has also served as a foreign minister and a head of the Norwegian Nobel Committee. They were looking into “whether gifts, travel and loans were received in connection with his position,” investigators said.
Files released by the Department of Justice show Mr. Epstein and Mr. Jagland were close, exchanging warm messages about meals, meetings and much more.
For example, in a February 2015 email, Mr. Jagland writes to an unidentified individual who appears to be an assistant in emails under the subject line “Jeffrey Epstein” that he is coming to Paris and had asked Mr. Epstein if he could “stay at his flat.” The recipient soon after writes that Mr. Epstein has confirmed “you may stay at his flat!”
Other prominently placed Norwegians are also facing new scrutiny, including Crown Princess Mette-Marit, Borge Brende, an ex-foreign minister who now runs the World Economic Forum, and Mona Juul, who this week was suspended from her role as ambassador to Jordan and quickly resigned. There has been fallout from the release of the Epstein files around the world, and though seemingly no region’s elites have been immune, Norway has been hard hit.
The charge against Mr. Jagland came as an oversight committee approved open hearings in an Epstein inquiry and submitted a list of questions to the government regarding foreign ministry activities, payments, security measures and more based on concerns arising from revelations in the files.
The questions, published by NRK, included, “What is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs doing to investigate the possible ties to Russia of the Norwegian social leaders mentioned in the Epstein files?”
Mr. Epstein wrote to Mr. Jagland in 2018 when he was head of the Council of Europe about President Vladimir Putin of Russia and his foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, “I think you might suggest to Putin, that Lavrov, can get insight on talking to me.”
While Mr. Epstein does not appear to have ever confirmed a meeting with Mr. Lavrov, communications like this one have raised alarms.
Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, a former government minister, has said he supports an independent inquiry and will testify if asked about his time as a former foreign minister. The oversight committee gave the government until Feb. 24 to respond to its questions and will meet in the interim to discuss the plans for the inquiry.
Ephrat Livni is a Times reporter covering breaking news around the world. She is based in Washington.
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