The European Commission has requested that the European Union’s anti-fraud agency investigate 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.
READ MORE
The investigation 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 the former Labour cabinet minister received $75,000 from Epstein 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 £20 billion of asset sales.
The then UK business secretary also sent Epstein confirmation that there would be a €500 billion 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?” – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2026
