3 hours ago
1
Getty Images
The European Commission has asked the EU's anti-fraud agency to investigate Lord Mandelson following the release of documents in the US relating to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The request to the European Anti-Fraud Office (Olaf) was made last week, a Commission spokeswoman said, after communications between the peer and Epstein were among the published documents.
Lord Mandelson served as the Commission's trade envoy from 2004 to 2008. He then became UK business secretary, during which time the emails disclosed in the US appear to show he gave Epstein internal government information.
The EU referral follows his arrest by UK police on Monday on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
Lord Mandelson has not commented publicly on the allegations, but it is understood his position is that he has not acted in any way criminally and that he was not motivated by financial gain.
The emails published by the US government last month suggest the 72-year-old peer gave Epstein advance notice of an imminent €500bn (£438bn) bailout to save the ailing euro in 2010.
The European Commission spokeswoman told the BBC that, as a member of the Commission, Lord Mandelson had been subject to obligations under a code of conduct.
"On this basis, and as new documents were published recently, we are looking into these and assessing whether there is any breach of the respective obligations," she said.
"Given the circumstances, and the significant amount of documents made available publicly, the European Commission also asked Olaf on 18 February to look into the matter.
"Pending the ongoing assessment, we are not in a position to comment further."
Part of Olaf's remit is investigating serious misconduct by EU staff and members of its institutions.
Lord Mandelson was sacked as the UK's ambassador to the US last year after fresh details emerged about his association with Epstein, who died in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer would later apologise to Epstein's victims over the appointment, saying Lord Mandelson had lied about the extent of their affiliation during the vetting process.
But the investigation by police in the UK came after the latest release of documents.
Lord Mandelson's lawyers criticised the decision to arrest him following the completion of searches at two of his properties, saying there was "absolutely no truth" in the suggestion he was planning to leave the UK.
Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle later confirmed he had passed information to the Metropolitan Police suggesting Lord Mandelson could be a flight risk.
Lord Mandelson was released on bail pending further investigation in the early hours of Tuesday morning. It is understood he surrendered his passport as one of his bail conditions.
