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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 from Epstein’s JPMorgan accounts of $25,000 each, all mentioning Mandelson, who has been a political power broker in the UK for more than three decades.
The documents were discovered by the FT in the US Department of Justice’s most recent release of around 3mn documents.
The first, in May 2003, was sent to a Barclays account held by Reinaldo da Silva, Mandelson’s partner, listing the Labour politician as “BEN” — typically short for beneficiary — of the funds.
The second and third transactions listed in the files came a few days apart in June 2004, to HSBC accounts labelled only with Mandelson’s name.
A spokesperson for Mandelson said he had no record or recollection of receiving any such payments, and did not know if the documents were authentic.
At the time Mandelson was a high-profile politician, having co-founded the election-winning “New Labour” project, but had been sacked from Tony Blair’s cabinet over scandals involving his links with other wealthy tycoons and was a backbench MP.
The House of Commons register of interests for the period does not include any references to loans or donations from Epstein to Mandelson.
Separately, emails published on Friday documented payments of thousands of pounds sent by Epstein to da Silva in 2009 and 2010.
The publication of the files increases the pressure on Mandelson, one of the most prominent figures in the Labour party, to reveal the full extent of his links with one of the most prominent paedophiles in recent history.
The documents include correspondence as well as photographs of Mandelson taken from Epstein’s records, including one in which he is semi-dressed 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 revelations that he had called Epstein his “best pal” in a 50th birthday tribute book.
Starmer hired Mandelson despite questions about his longstanding friendship with Epstein.
In 2023 the FT reported emails suggesting Mandelson was staying at Epstein’s Manhattan mansion when he was Labour business secretary and de facto deputy prime minister in 2009, while the financier was in jail for soliciting sex from a minor.
Saturday’s newly discovered documents include what appears to be a document prepared by Epstein’s accountant, showing transactions for “Jeffrey E. Epstein and Related Entities” in 2004. Mandelson appears under the header “Loans and Exchanges”, alongside an outlay of $25,000 from Epstein’s account.
Previous data releases showed that Mandelson took two flights at the financier’s expense worth a total of $7,486 in 2003, while an MP. He did not disclose either in the House of Commons’ register of interests.
In one email from November 2010 Mandelson wrote to Epstein referring to him as “my chief life adviser”.
On Friday, Mandelson reissued a previous statement insisting that he had only realised the truth about Epstein after his suicide in 2019.
“I was wrong to believe Epstein following his conviction and to continue my association with him afterwards. I apologise unequivocally for doing so to the women and girls who suffered,” he wrote.
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