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Lord Peter Mandelson was sent money directly from disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein as early as 2003, according to new files released by the US government.
The files record three payments of $25,000 from Epstein’s JPMorgan accounts, all attributed to Mandelson, who has been a political power broker in Britain for more than three decades.
These documents were discovered by the FT in a recent release of nearly 3 million documents from the US Justice Department.
The first, in May 2003, was sent to the Barclays account of Mandelson’s partner Reinaldo da Silva, listing the Labor politician as “Ben” – usually short for the beneficiary of the funds.
The second and third transactions listed in the files arrived a few days apart in June 2004 into HSBC accounts bearing only Mandelson’s name.
A spokesman for Mandelson said he had no record or recollection of receiving any such payments, and did not know whether the documents were authentic.
Mandelson was a high-profile politician at the time, having co-founded the election-winning “New Labour” project, but he was dismissed from Tony Blair’s cabinet due to scandals involving his ties to other wealthy tycoons and was a backbench MP.
The House of Commons register of interests for this period does not contain any reference to loans or donations from Epstein to Mandelson.
Emails published separately on Friday documented thousands of pounds of payments sent by Epstein to da Silva in 2009 and 2010.
The publication of the files increases pressure on Mandelson, one of the Labor Party’s most prominent figures, to reveal the full extent of his relationship with one of the most prominent pedophiles in recent history.
The documents include correspondence as well as photographs of Mendelson taken from Epstein’s records, one of which shows him semi-clothed and standing next to a woman. Mandelson has not been accused of any sexual wrongdoing.
Mandelson re-emerged as a political player early last year when Sir Keir Starmer appointed him as ambassador to Washington. But he was sacked from that role in September after it was revealed that he had called Epstein his “best friend” in a 50th birthday tribute book.
Starmer hired Mandelson despite questions about his long-term friendship with Epstein.
In 2023 the FT reported emails suggesting that Mandelson was staying at Epstein’s Manhattan mansion when he was Labor business secretary and de facto deputy prime minister in 2009, while the financier was in prison for having sex with a minor.
New documents discovered Saturday include a document prepared by Epstein’s accountant, showing transactions for “Jeffrey E. Epstein and related entities” in 2004. Mandelson appears under the heading “Loans and Exchanges”, with an outlay of $25,000 from Epstein’s account.
Previous data releases showed that while an MP in 2003, Mandelson took two flights at the financier’s expense totaling $7,486. He also did not disclose it in the House of Commons register of interests.
In an email from November 2010, Mandelson wrote to Epstein and called him “my main life advisor”.
On Friday, Mandelson reissued a previous statement insisting that she only realized the truth about Epstein after his suicide in 2019.
She wrote, “It was my mistake to believe Epstein after his conviction and then continue my association with him. I unreservedly apologize for doing so to the women and girls who survived.”
