British police opened a criminal investigation into former Labour minister Peter Mandelson on Tuesday, citing alleged misconduct in public office connected to his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, according to London’s Metropolitan Police.
In a statement, the force said detectives had reviewed reports of misconduct and decided they met the threshold to launch a full investigation into Mandelson, who is 72. Commander Ella Marriott said the Metropolitan Police “has now launched an investigation into a 72-year-old man, a former government minister, for misconduct in public office offenses.”
The Metropolitan Police said the inquiry focuses on whether information tied to Mandelson’s public role was improperly shared in connection with Epstein. The U.K. government, meanwhile, said newly released Epstein files indicate Mandelson may have shared likely market-sensitive information about the 2008 global financial crisis and its aftermath with Epstein outside government.
The investigation does not mean Mandelson will be arrested, charged or convicted, officials said. Misconduct in public office carries a maximum sentence of life in prison in the U.K., but London’s decision to open an investigation is the first formal step in a process that can take months.
Mandelson’s political career ended before any potential charges, after he said Tuesday that he would resign from the House of Lords, Parliament’s upper chamber, where he has sat for life since 2008. The Speaker of the Lords, Michael Forsyth, said Mandelson had informed officials that he would retire effective Wednesday.
His resignation came as the U.K. government prepared legislation aimed at ejecting Mandelson from the Lords and removing the noble title, Lord Mandelson, that comes with his seat. Mandelson would keep the title after retirement unless lawmakers pass legislation to strip it from him, something that has not been done for more than a century, according to the report.
The latest developments were fueled by a release of newly available Epstein-related material by the U.S. Department of Justice. The files, described in the report as including more than 3 million pages, include emails and messages involving Mandelson that critics say may have breached legal limits, the report said.
Among the new revelations described by the Associated Press: bank documents suggest that between 2003 and 2004, Epstein sent three payments totaling $75,000 to accounts linked to Mandelson or his partner, Reinaldo Avila da Silva, and Mandelson said he does not remember receiving the money and would investigate whether the records are authentic. The report also said Mandelson resigned from the governing Labour Party on Sunday to avoid further embarrassment to the party.
The report further said that in 2009, Epstein sent Avila da Silva 10,000 pounds for an osteopathy course, and that Mandelson later told The Times of London: “in retrospect, it was clearly a lapse in our collective judgment for Reinaldo to accept this offer.” The document release also described messages in which Mandelson appeared to discuss government finances after the 2008 global financial crisis, including an internal government report and a note to an “Interesting note that’s gone to the PM.”
In addition, the report said Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer told his Cabinet on Tuesday that he was “appalled” by the newly released files and concerned that more details still could emerge. Starmer spokesman Tom Wells said the government sent police its assessment that the documents contained “likely market-sensitive information” that should not have been shared outside government.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting said Mandelson’s continued friendship with Epstein was “a betrayal on so many levels.” Streeting told the BBC that “It is a betrayal of the victims of Jeffrey Epstein that he continued that association and that friendship for so long after his conviction,” and said it was also “a betrayal of not just one but two prime ministers,” referring to Gordon Brown and Starmer.
An email seeking comment on the documents was sent to Mandelson through the House of Lords, the report said.