British banker Simon Andriesz has died aged 57, five months after going public with allegations about links between Jeffrey Epstein and US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
The whistleblower alleged that Mr Lutnick, a former employer and key ally of Donald Trump, had failed to disclose a business relationship with the convicted sex offender and financier.
His death was confirmed by Andy Agathangelou, founder of the Transparency Task Force (TTF), a campaign group that had hosted whistleblowing events with Mr Andriesz.
Mr Agathangelou said Mr Andriesz, who died last month, was a “whistleblower who stood up for what was right” and a “valued member of our community”.
Mr Andriesz uncovered emails from 2018 that he said showed Mr Lutnick and Epstein discussing a start-up business in which both men were involved.
Epstein died in prison the following year. The messages were exchanged a decade after he was convicted of soliciting prostitution from a child in 2008.
Mr Andriesz presented his findings, drawn from the Epstein files, to US politicians on the House Oversight Committee before Mr Lutnick appeared before the panel in May.
Mr Lutnick said he had not learned that Epstein was an investor in the firm until this year, while the US Commerce Department said there was no evidence of wrongdoing.
Mr Andriesz later told the BBC that one of Mr Lutnick’s firms had also planned to enter into business with Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor in 2013.
British banker Simon Andriesz, a former BGC Group executive, has died aged 57
Jeffrey Epstein (centre) and Howard Lutnick (right) pictured on Little St James in the Epstein files
Mr Andriesz claimed the plan was to commercially exploit contacts made by the former UK trade envoy, using a £1 million loan to “basically buy a prince”.
Mr Lutnick was friends with Andrew’s former wife, Sarah Ferguson, and attended their daughter Princess Eugenie’s wedding in 2018. The proposed deal, however, never went ahead.
Shortly after the allegations were published, Mr Andriesz spoke at a TTF event about the impact of his whistleblowing on his career, health and family.
EXPLORE MORE: List of Premier League Teams That Violated Profit and Sustainability Regulations – NewsFinale
Mr Andriesz, who had recently been living in Cornwall, previously served as managing director at Wall Street firm BGC Group, where Mr Lutnick was chief executive.
He was also named in the Epstein files in connection with interviews he gave the FBI while involved in a dispute with BGC over concerns about accounting irregularities.
Paul Callin, a TTF community member and financial services expert, said Mr Andriesz had “bravely fought alone for several years doing what he believed was right in exposing evidence of wrongdoing”.
He added that Mr Andriesz, “as a lone and vulnerable voice”, had been let down by people he needed to trust and who were in a position to make a difference.
Mr Callin continued: “It is a tragedy that he felt so let down, how he sadly saw no way out recently and was lost.”
US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick stands beside President Donald Trump in February
‘To all Simon’s family and friends, please stay strong, the pain must be unimaginable, and you, along with Simon, are in the thoughts of so many around the world.
‘The words will never be right or adequate, but so many are there supporting you, even if not present or apparent, both now and in the weeks, months and years to come.’
Mr Andriesz spent 35 years working in the securities industry before he was sacked in 2017.
BGC previously insisted his allegations were ‘categorically false’, and remained unsubstantiated following investigations by authorities in several jurisdictions.
Bosses insisted he was sacked after he refused to follow medical advice or perform essential duties, rejected reasonable accommodation and abandoned his role.
Mr Lutnick has previously said he met Epstein three times, adding: ‘I unequivocally condemn the conduct attributed to Jeffrey Epstein and everyone who participated in his illegal activities. The survivors of his crimes deserve our respect and support.’
And a White House statement to the BBC said in July: ‘The BBC’s pathetic and desperate attempt to slander Secretary Lutnick will do nothing to change the fact that he has been the most consequential Commerce Secretary in modern history.’
Mr Trump also associated with Epstein and was photographed with him several times in the 1990s and early 2000s, but has always denied knowledge of his sex offending.
YOU MAY ALSO READ: Presley Gerber on the Modeling Industry Rumor That Haunted Him as a Teenager