Remember me
The peer, who was sacked as UK ambassador to the US 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 $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.
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Two later statements from May and June 2004 also feature $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 Labour MP for Hartlepool.
Mandelson told the BBC he had no recollection of receiving the payments, and did not know if the documents were genuine.
Other disclosures from the latest Epstein files show a man who appears to be Mandelson in a series of undated photographs, standing in his pants and a T-shirt alongside a woman whose face has been hidden.
The peer told the BBC he “cannot place the location or the woman and I cannot think what the circumstances were”.
Elsewhere, the files appeared to show da Silva was transferred thousands of pounds by Epstein to pay for a fee so he could attend the British School of Osteopathy.
The peer was sacked as the ambassador to Washington DC last year after revelations of his continued contact with Epstein following the financier’s guilty plea in 2008 to soliciting prostitution and soliciting a minor.
Communities Secretary Steve Reed was asked by Sky News on Sunday if Mandelson should be stripped of his peerage because of his association with Epstein.
He replied: “I think before taking any action like that, we need to understand exactly what’s happened. You’re asking me here about something that happened nearly 20 years ago. I don’t know the full detail of it, I wasn’t in government 20 years ago.
“I don’t know whether he declared it or not, and he should have done – the declaration rules had been brought in by then – so I think it would be for Peter Mandelson to explain whether or not that money was properly declared, and if not, then he will need to account for that.”
Following Reed's comments SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn said that allowing Mandelson to retain his title as a Labour peer is not only an “insult to voters” but it also “fails the victims” of Epstein.
He said: “Even before these latest revelations it was absolutely astonishing that Keir Starmer continued to allow Peter Mandelson to sit in the House of Lords as a Labour Peer.
“It is an insult to voters who expect far better and to taxpayers who are footing the bill for his wages but, above all, it fails the victims of Jeffrey Epstein, who deserve far better than Keir Starmer's inaction.”
