Bank statements released by the U.S. Department of Justice indicate that accounts linked to Lord Mandelson received $75,000 from Jeffrey Epstein.
The documents suggest Epstein made three separate payments of $25,000 each, referencing Lord Mandelson, between 2003 and 2004.
These payments are part of a larger release of documents concerning the late sex offender Epstein, amounting to millions of pages shared by the U.S. government following a mandated disclosure law enacted last year.
Lord Mandelson has stated that he has no record or recollection of receiving these funds and is unsure of the documents’ authenticity.
He has reiterated his regret for “ever having known Epstein” and for maintaining their association after the financier’s conviction, offering an “unequivocal” apology to the women and girls who suffered.
The latest release of Epstein files also includes images of the former U.K. ambassador to the U.S. in his underwear.
In a redacted photograph, he is seen standing next to a woman whose face is obscured.
He has stated that he “cannot place the location or the woman and I cannot think what the circumstances were”.
The time and location of the images involving Lord Mandelson and the woman remain unknown.
Inclusion in these files does not imply any wrongdoing.
Separately, emails indicate that Lord Mandelson attempted to influence government policy on a proposed tax on bankers’ bonuses, following requests from Epstein.
“Trying hard to amend,” Lord Mandelson wrote to Epstein in December 2009. “Treasury digging in but I am on [the] case.”
At the time, Lord Mandelson served as business secretary in Gordon Brown’s government.
Lord Mandelson has stated to the BBC that all U.K. and international banks presented the same arguments regarding the potential impact on U.K. financial services, adding, “My conversations in government at the time reflected the views of the sector as a whole not a single individual.”
The recently released bank statements, initially reported by the Financial Times, appear to show three separate payments referencing Lord Mandelson, who was Labour MP for Hartlepool at the time, being sent from Epstein’s JP Morgan bank accounts.
The first, dated May 14, 2003, indicates a payment to a Barclays bank account where Reinaldo Avila da Silva—Lord Mandelson’s partner at the time—is listed as “A/C,” a common abbreviation for “account.”
In that payment, “Peter Mandelson” is identified on the account as “BEN,” frequently used as an abbreviation for “beneficiary.”
The second and third payments, each amounting to $25,000, were made to HSBC accounts within days of each other in June 2004. In both instances, “Peter Mandelson” is the only individual named, again as “BEN.”
It remains unclear whether the three payments were successfully deposited into any of the specified accounts.
Da Silva, who married Lord Mandelson in 2023, also appears elsewhere in the recent Epstein release. Emails from 2009 show Epstein sent him £10,000 for an osteopathy course.
When asked for a response to da Silva’s loan, Lord Mandelson stated that he had been “very clear” regarding his relationship with Epstein in interviews with the BBC.
“I have nothing more to add,” he said.
Lord Mandelson was later appointed by Sir Keir Starmer in December 2024 as the U.K.’s ambassador to the U.S., but was removed from the position the following September after additional revelations surfaced regarding his friendship with Epstein.
Emails revealed that he had been in contact with Epstein after the U.S. financier’s 2008 conviction, sending a series of supportive messages.
On Sunday, Housing Secretary Steve Reed confirmed that the government was not aware of Mandelson’s alleged financial ties to Epstein, after being questioned by Laura Kuenssberg.
“You’re talking about things that happened more than 20 years ago,” he stated, emphasizing that “there was no knowledge” regarding what was occurring at that time.
Reed added that Mandelson was removed as U.S. ambassador because “there were things he had not disclosed” to the government.
“I think he should answer questions about his own life, not me.”
On January 11, he told Laura Kuenssberg that his relationship with Epstein was a “terrible mistake”.
During the interview, Lord Mandelson also stated that he believed he was “kept separate” from Epstein’s sex life because he is gay and denied seeing young girls at Epstein’s properties.
Days later, he offered a more direct apology to the victims of the disgraced financier, telling Newsnight he was “wrong” to continue associating with Epstein.
Epstein’s 2008 conviction stemmed from a plea bargain reached in Florida. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to two charges, including soliciting girls as young as 14 for prostitution.
In 2019, Epstein died in a New York prison cell while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
Among the numerous emails exchanged between Epstein and Mandelson, one shows Epstein seemingly suggesting to Mandelson that he could relinquish his peerage by marrying Princess Beatrice.
In October 2009, Epstein wrote: “or you can marry princess beatrice, the queen would have a queen as a grandson.”
The preceding correspondence in this thread is not included, but Mandelson responded to Epstein’s message by stating: “Remember, I am already her Lord President.”
In separate email correspondence with a friend, Epstein explained that he offered this advice to Mandelson so that he could pursue the role of prime minister, which he was ineligible to do as a member of the House of Lords.