Daniel Wolfram
A prominent whistleblower has died by apparent suicide after he exposed Howard Lutnick’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
British trader Simon Andriesz died by suicide in Thailand on September 23, according to his family.
According to local police, there is no apparent foul play involved in his death.
The Transparency Task Force, the organization that Andriesz was a part of, wrote on social media that he “stood up for what was right.”
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Ties between Lutnick and Epstein
Before his death, Andriesz submitted evidence to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the FBI regarding financial links between US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Jeffrey Epstein. The material cast doubt on public statements by Lutnick, former head of brokerage BGC Partners.
In 2025, Lutnick claimed that he only met Epstein one time even though they were neighbors at the time in Manhattan after Lutnick found Epstein “gross.”
However, as the Epstein files and Andriesz’s allegations started to evolve, he found that Lutnick had emailed Epstein directly and then pictures became public of Lutnick laughing along with Epstein on his island back in 2012.
Andriesz alleged Lutnick sought to “buy a prince” by offering a £1 million loan to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor in 2013 for investor contacts. BGC told the BBC the deal never happened. Andriesz also claimed BGC embezzled broker bonus funds, which the firm denied.
Howard Lutnick has become an important fixture as the United States Secretary of Commerce in the Trump administration. Donald Trump and Howard Lutnick have also been friends and colleagues for many years as both were finance moguls in New York City in the 1990s.
Since joining the administration, Lutnick has managed to double his net worth to over $7 billion.
Calls for accountability
Weeks before his death, Andriesz told MPs he felt “thoroughly let down” and suffered “absolute hell” from the FCA. He later warned the watchdog merely “pays lip service” to whistleblower protection.
“It protects the institution and then exposes the whistleblower to extreme retaliation and devastation to their lives and families,” Andriesz said, according to the BBC.
Labour MP John McDonnell called the death a “profound and preventable tragedy” and argued whistleblowers must be “treated properly, protected appropriately and listened to seriously.” MPs now want an independent review of the FCA.
FCA launches review
The FCA told the BBC it issued a supervision order following Andriesz’s disclosures. But Andriesz dismissed that measure as a simple “slap on the wrist.”
Amid growing pressure, the FCA appointed former Bank of England director Lea Paterson to review its handling of the case. “We are very sorry to hear of Mr Andriesz’s death. Our thoughts are with his family and friends,” an FCA spokesperson told the BBC.
The spokesperson added, “Since expressing our condolences, we’ve asked Lea Paterson, who has just joined our board as a non-executive director, to review how we interacted with Mr Andriesz to learn any lessons for the future.”
