The death of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein will be investigated by the US Department of Justice, the nation's attorney general William Barr said today.
Mr Barr said there are "serious questions that must be answered", after Epstein committed suicide in the cell he was being held in overnight.
He has ordered the inspector general to open an investigation into the death and the FBI has also launched an inquiry.
The US Bureau of Prisons said Epstein was found unresponsive in his cell in the Metropolitan Correctional Centre at around 6.30am on Saturday.
He was facing federal sex-trafficking charges and faced up to 45 years in prison if convicted, though he had pleaded not guilty.
The accusations levelled at Epstein linked sex trafficking involving dozens of underage girls as young as 14, from at least 2002 to 2005.
He was due to go on trial next June.
