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Jeffrey Epstein sent thousands of pounds to Reinaldo Ávila da Silva, the husband of Lord Peter Mandelson, according to emails published by the US Justice Department, raising new questions over the friendship between the disgraced financier and Britain’s former ambassador to Washington.
Emails published on Friday show da Silva emailing Epstein in September 2009, demanding £10,000 to pay for an osteopathy course and other related expenses. Epstein replied that day, “I will send your loan amount immediately.”
A few days later, da Silva sent Epstein an email saying, “Thank you for the money arriving in my account this morning”.
Mendelson married da Silva in 2023 after a relationship of three decades.
Mandelson was Business Secretary and de facto Deputy Prime Minister at the time of the first payment, and remained in that role until May 2010.
Epstein was jailed from 2008 to July 2009 after being convicted of soliciting prostitution.
In an email released by the DoJ, Epstein pushed Mandelson to discuss fees for da Silva’s osteopathy course. Three minutes later, Epstein received a reply from an edited sender: “So what’s my share of the reward?” Epstein responded: “Was that the wrong way to spell loot”.
The emails show that in April 2010, da Silva messaged Epstein again, sharing his bank details. Epstein forwarded the email to his accountant, saying: “Send $13k”.
In subsequent correspondence, Epstein instructed his accountant to “send Rinaldo 2 thousand per month.” His accountant, Rich Kahn, asks if it’s “worth the extra $13k” and to confirm that the currency is US dollars. Epstein responds that “after reconsideration (only) send $4000”.
In a September 2010 email, Epstein jokingly advised Mandelson to move to China “for two years.”
The reply the same day read: “And meet a nice rich Chinaman and live happily ever after… speaking of which, have you shut down the Reinaldo sub permanently?! I might have to put him to work on the streets.”
The FT was first told about the payments from Epstein to da Silva by a person who claimed to have knowledge of the matter last year.
In September a person close to Mandelson described the allegation as “unthinkable”, saying that there was “no relationship” between da Silva and Epstein, and that the pair did not like each other. The man denied that Mandelson ever received money from Epstein, either directly or through her husband.
At the time, da Silva did not respond to the FT’s request for comment, asking him whether – and if so, why – he had accepted money from a convicted pedophile.
British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was forced to sack Mandelson from his most recent role as US ambassador in early September last year after he called Epstein his “best friend” in a 50th birthday tribute book.
Emails released by the Justice Department reveal other aspects of the Mendelson-Epstein relationship, including the British politician asking for advice about buying an apartment in Brazil.
In March 2011, when Mandelson was running Global Counsel, a London-based consultancy, he wrote to the financier about a plan to reduce taxes that involved setting up an offshore company in Panama that would partner with a new Brazilian company managed by da Silva.
In November 2011, Mandelson asked Epstein: “Need a God on board?” Epstein replied: “An interesting view.”
The new revelations will raise further questions about the judgment of both Starmer and her chief of staff Morgan McSweeney, a longtime ally of Mandelson who argued against her recent dismissal.
Mandelson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Additional reporting by Kieran Smith and Cynthia O’Murchu
