Sacked UK ambassador Mandelson has ‘no recollection of US$75,000 payments from Epstein’

SCMP | Feb. 1, 2026, 12:09 p.m. | Original

Peter Mandelson, former British ambassador to the US. Photo: Jeff Overs / BBC / Handout via Reuters

British politician Peter Mandelson on Sunday said he does not remember receiving payments from paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein totalling US$75,000.

Mandelson, who was sacked as ambassador to the United States last year because of his links to Epstein, appears to feature in several bank statements released on Friday in the huge tranche of files related to the disgraced financier by the US government.

In one bank statement, a payment of US$25,000 to the account of Reinaldo Avila da Silva, now Mandelson’s husband, features on May 14, 2003.

The statement appears to describe “Peter Mandelson” as the beneficiary of the payment, as the allocation “BEN” appears next to his name.

Two later statements from May and June 2004 also feature US$25,000 payments to Mandelson, one to an account which appears in his name, and another in which he appears to be listed as a beneficiary.

At the time, he was serving as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Hartlepool for the Labour Party.

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