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The European Commission has requested that the EU’s anti-fraud agency investigate Lord Peter Mandelson’s actions while he was serving in Brussels as the British commissioner for trade between 2004 and 2008.
The formal request to the European Anti-Fraud Office (Olaf) was made last week, according to the European Commission, following the release of thousands of documents highlighting his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
“Given the circumstances, and the significant amount of documents made available publicly, the European Commission . . . asked Olaf on 18 February to look into the matter,” the spokesperson for the Commission said.
“As new documents were published recently, we are looking into these and assessing whether there is any breach of the respective obligations,” they added.
The probe is expected to be wide-ranging and not initially focus on any particular issue, according to two people familiar with the matter.
A spokesperson for Olaf said the agency was examining the request.
Mandelson’s lawyers at Mishcon de Reya did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The request came before Mandelson’s arrest by British police on Monday on suspicion of misconduct in public office. He was held for nine hours for questioning before he was released on bail. Mandelson has denied wrongdoing.
Nigel Farage, leader of Britain’s Reform UK party and a former MEP, earlier this month wrote to Olaf calling for an inquiry into Mandelson.
Farage argued that Mandelson’s conduct was “arguably sufficiently egregious for him to forfeit his pension” stemming from his time as commissioner, which is worth £31,000 a year.
Files released by the US Department of Justice have revealed that Epstein sent payments totalling $75,000 to the former Labour cabinet minister in 2003 and 2004.
Mandelson passed UK government information to the sex offender in 2009 and 2010, according to the files, including a Downing Street document about impending tax changes and a mooted £20bn of asset sales.
The then UK business secretary also sent Epstein confirmation that there would be a €500bn Eurozone bailout hours before it was announced, the files showed.
In his letter to Petr Klement, director-general of the Olaf anti-fraud body, Farage said: “Lord Mandelson is accused of regularly forwarding official information to Epstein. Did this also happen during Lord Mandelson’s tenure as a commissioner?”
Mandelson’s spell as trade commissioner was not without controversy.
In 2008, he denied granting favours to Russian oligarch and aluminium tycoon Oleg Deripaska after advocating the removal of tariffs on the metal. That year he had spent time on Deripaska’s £80mn yacht.
Mandelson, in his subsequent position as UK business secretary, said he had “made no personal intervention to support the commercial interests of Mr Deripaska”.
Allies of Mandelson have always argued that his approach to aluminium tariffs was consistent with his general approach in favour of open trade and against protectionism.
In 2018 Deripaska was among multiple oligarchs to be sanctioned by the US over his association with President Vladimir Putin.