British whistleblower says he uncovered Lutnick's undisclosed Epstein ties

All 21 Democrats on Oversight Committee demand commerce secretary resign

Andriesz, now 57 and living in a quiet Cornish seaside village, told the BBC he was “completely shocked” when he found his own name in the Epstein files — a massive collection of documents, photos, video and emails relating to the convicted sex offender, released by the US government in the past year. The specific files in which he appeared related to interviews he had given to the FBI during a dispute with his former employer, BGC Partners, a financial brokerage firm that is part of Lutnick’s Cantor Fitzgerald group.

Prompted by the files’ release, Andriesz began searching the 3.5 million pages of documents for evidence of Lutnick’s connection to Epstein. He noticed that other searchers were looking for the name “Lutnick.” But Andriesz, who had worked at the firm, knew that Cantor Fitzgerald executives preferred to use initials rather than full names in their emails.

He searched for “HWL” — Howard William Lutnick’s initials — and found emails sent to and from Epstein in 2018. In the correspondence, Epstein directly asked the HWL account: “what do you think the prospects for adfin are?” Lutnick responded: “Producing revenue finally. This is their year. Next 12 months they need to become economically self-sufficient.” Both Epstein and Cantor Fitzgerald had invested in Adfin, a digital advertising company.

The discovery appeared to be inconsistent with public statements Lutnick had made about his relationship with Epstein. On a podcast in 2025, following his appointment as commerce secretary, Lutnick claimed he had only ever met Epstein once, 20 years earlier, when they had been neighbors in Manhattan, and that he had found Epstein’s behavior “gross.”

A photograph discovered in the Epstein files showed Lutnick with Epstein on Little St James, the sex offender’s Caribbean island, in December 2012. Four years earlier, in 2008 in Florida, Epstein had been sent to prison on two charges of soliciting prostitution, including one with a minor.

Andriesz shared his findings with members of the House Oversight Committee ahead of Lutnick’s appearance before the panel in May. In an off-camera hearing, Lutnick told the committee: “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.” He maintained that he did not know until this year that Epstein had been a co-investor in Adfin.

Democrats on the committee accused Lutnick of lying. All 21 Democratic members signed a letter demanding his resignation.

The US Commerce Department, speaking on Lutnick’s behalf, said the allegations were “a desperate partisan distraction from the historic work of this Administration,” adding that the commerce secretary had answered hundreds of questions before Congress and there was “no evidence of wrongdoing or legitimate cause for concern.” Lutnick has not been accused of any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein.

Separately, Andriesz found documents in the Epstein files revealing plans in 2013 for Cantor Fitzgerald to enter a business arrangement with then-Prince Andrew. Under the proposed terms, £1m would be loaned to a firm controlled by Andrew, who would then be bound to conduct business exclusively with Cantor Fitzgerald. “What it involved was a loan to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor of £1m… to basically buy a prince,” Andriesz said.

The arrangement would have given Cantor Fitzgerald exclusive access to Andrew’s contacts with wealthy individuals and sovereign institutions. Epstein warned Andrew’s business aide, David Stern, against the deal, with one concern being the exclusivity of the arrangement. Advisers to both Lutnick and Andrew discussed the proposal for four months, from August to November 2013, but the deal did not proceed. Cantor Fitzgerald did not deny the talks took place but told the BBC it did not go into business with Andrew. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor did not respond to a request for comment.

Lutnick had been friends with Andrew’s ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, since the 1990s and was a guest at Princess Eugenie’s wedding in 2018. Andrew was stripped of his royal titles in November 2025.

Andriesz’s path to the Epstein files began with his own employment dispute. In 2016, while working at BGC Partners, he raised concerns internally about accounting irregularities at the firm. He was dismissed in 2017. Some of his allegations later led to BGC being ordered to pay a $3m penalty by the US derivatives regulator for “numerous supervision, reporting, and record-keeping violations.”

BGC told the BBC that Andriesz’s allegations lacked credibility and were “categorically false.” The company said the claims had been investigated by authorities in several jurisdictions which, according to BGC, had not substantiated the allegations. BGC maintained that Andriesz’s employment was terminated after he refused to follow medical advice, declined to perform essential job duties, rejected reasonable accommodation, and ultimately abandoned his role.

Andriesz spoke to the FBI about BGC and about Lutnick in 2020 and 2021, after Epstein had killed himself in jail while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. The Epstein files show Andriesz alleged that Lutnick had had undeclared business ties with Epstein. The FBI did not investigate these accusations.

Despite receiving a $420,000 financial award from the US regulator for his whistleblowing, Andriesz said authorities in the US and UK have failed to hold BGC and Cantor Fitzgerald properly to account, or to protect him from retaliation by his former employer. BGC said it has strong policies protecting whistleblowers from retaliation and denied retaliating against Andriesz. The company said it has had no involvement with him since his departure other than responding to litigation he initiated.

Andriesz said the litigation of the past decade has had a devastating effect on his career, his finances and his health. He expressed frustration at the lack of wider interest in his findings. “I’m exposing Howard Lutnick’s relationship, financial links, with Jeffrey Epstein, and there’s no interest,” he said.

In 2025, when Lutnick was appointed commerce secretary, he sold his shares in Cantor Fitzgerald and passed control of the firm to his sons.

The White House, speaking on Lutnick’s behalf, said: “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.”