Lord Peter Mandelson has quit as a Labour Party member after newly released documents showed the former UK ambassador to the US and his partner receiving money from the notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
In a statement, the peer said he felt “regretful and sorry” that he had again been linked to Epstein. Mandelson has always maintained that he had no direct knowledge of Epstein’s crimes.
He added: “Allegations which I believe to be false that he made financial payments to me 20 years ago, and of which I have no record or recollection, need investigating by me.”
What is the basis for the allegations about those financial payments?
Mandelson is mentioned 5,680 times in the US Department of Justice’s “Epstein Library”, which released 3mn new files on Friday evening, reflecting his close friendship with Epstein.
The files record three payments from Epstein’s JPMorgan accounts of $25,000 each, all mentioning Mandelson.
The first in May 2003 was sent to a Barclays account held by Reinaldo Avila da Silva, Mandelson’s partner — and now husband — listing the Labour politician as “BEN”, typically short for beneficiary, of the funds.
The second and third transactions listed in the files were on different days in June 2004 to HSBC accounts labelled only with Mandelson’s name. At the time he was a backbench Labour MP, having been sacked from government by the then UK prime minister Sir Tony Blair.
These are the payments that Mandelson says he believes to be “false”.
Are there any other financial links between Epstein and Mandelson?
Other emails showed that Epstein sent thousands of pounds to da Silva, Mandelson’s husband, in 2009 and 2010 to help fund his osteopathy course and other related expenses.
By this time Mandelson had returned to government as UK business secretary and wielded huge power as de facto deputy prime minister to Gordon Brown.
One email showed da Silva asking for £10,000: “I will wire your loan amount immediated’y (sic),” Epstein replied. A few days later da Silva sent Epstein an email saying “thank you for the money”.
In April 2010 da Silva messaged Epstein again, sharing his bank details. Epstein forwarded the email to his accountant, adding: “Send 13k dollars.”
In subsequent correspondence, Epstein instructed his accountant to “send 2k per month to reinaldo”.
The accountant asked if this was on top of the $13,000. At that point Epstein replied: “After rethinkoing (sic) send 4000 dollars only.”
In September 2010 Mandelson jokes with Epstein about the payments. “Have you permanently stopped the Reinaldo sub?! I may have to put him out to work on the streets.”
The FT first learned about these payments in September, at which point a person close to Mandelson described the allegation as “inconceivable”.
Mandelson has not responded directly to the publication of the emails about the da Silva payments.
Did Mandelson enjoy any free hospitality from Epstein?
Mandelson took two flights at Epstein’s expense in 2003 worth a total of $7,486, which he did not declare to the House of Commons authorities. The flights appeared in a cache of documents released by the US House of Representatives oversight committee on September 2.
The flights to and from an unnamed location cost $3,844.90 and $3,642.06 apiece.
Mandelson is also known to have enjoyed Epstein’s hospitality at his Manhattan mansion and on his private island, Little Saint James.
One new email from Epstein in October 2010 tells someone that “petie” has asked him: “Can I come stay on your island for Christmas.”
What were Epstein and Mandelson’s discussions about a Brazilian property purchase?
The emails show the extent to which Mandelson often relied on the American financier for advice on both his business affairs and his personal life.
In October 2010, he emailed Epstein — calling him his “chief life adviser” — asking for advice on buying an apartment in Brazil worth about £2mn.
Three weeks later, the documents show Mandelson receiving approval from HSBC Private Bank for a £1.68mn loan to buy the apartment.
In March 2011, Mandelson wrote to Epstein describing the idea of an unusual structure that could have reduced tax on the purchase, involving the incorporation of a Brazilian company and a Panamanian company.
Mandelson told tax expert Dan Neidle that he nor his husband had ever owned a Brazilian property, adding: “I have no recollection of this proposal or knowledge as to the authenticity of this document.”
Mandelson and da Silva appear to have been shareholders in a company incorporated in Brazil in May 2011 for the purpose of buying and selling real estate, according to Brazilian corporate records.
Did Mandelson ever discuss government business with Epstein when he was a minister?
Emails show how Mandelson as business secretary told Epstein in 2009 that the boss of JPMorgan should “mildly threaten” Britain’s chancellor, Alistair Darling, over his planned tax on banker bonuses.
Epstein was messaging Mandelson within a week of Darling’s announcement, suggesting how the business secretary could soften the policy. Mandelson replied: “Trying hard to amend . . . I am on the case.”
On March 2 2010 Mandelson had dinner with Epstein at his Manhattan mansion. The next day Mandelson gave a speech attacking the then US president Barack Obama’s plans for new “Volcker” rules to stop US banks taking excessive risks.
Mandelson told the FT that his interventions were on behalf of the entire financial services industry.
“Every UK and international bank was making the same argument about the impact on UK financial services,” he said. “My conversations in government at the time reflected the views of the sector as a whole, not a single individual.”
The Labour peer sent Epstein another email on Christmas Day 2010, at which point he was no longer in government, referring to his desire to work with JPMorgan.
“If I am going to do something for JPM, it should be a discreet Global Counsel project,” he wrote. “My aim is to acquire enough knowledge and networks in time to participate in real deals. I do not want to live by salary alone. That’s why I need to do as much as possible to build with JPM.”
Global Counsel, the advisory firm set up by Mandelson in 2010 after he left office, went on to advise JPMorgan.
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