The sudden death of a British whistleblower who helped expose previously undisclosed links between Jeffrey Epstein and US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has triggered calls for an independent investigation into how he was treated by UK regulators.
Simon Andriesz, a 57-year-old former managing director at brokerage BGC Partners, spent years fighting his former employer and Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) over allegations of financial misconduct and retaliation against whistleblowers. His family said there is no suggestion of foul play after he died by suspected suicide in Thailand on September 23.
Andriesz had begun raising concerns about alleged accounting irregularities at BGC as early as 2016. He later accused the FCA of failing to properly investigate his disclosures and protect him after his identity became known to the company. The regulator subsequently acknowledged that it had wrongly advised him that he was not entitled to whistleblower protections and apologized.
ANOTHER EPSTEIN WHISTLEBLOWER IS DEAD. WHAT HAPPENED TO SIMON ANDRIESZ? Simon Andriesz, a British banker and whistleblower linked to the Jeffrey Epstein story, has died. He brought information to the FBI and later to Congress involving BGC, Cantor Fitzgerald, and Howard Lutnick, now one of the most powerful officials in the Trump administration. This was not someone making claims online without evidence. Federal regulators acted on information he provided. Andriesz later reviewed Epstein records and found 2018 emails between Lutnick and Epstein discussing a company called ADFIN, in which both men had investment ties. He took his findings to the House Oversight Committee. Congressional investigators later questioned Lutnick behind closed doors about his contact with Epstein. Lutnick denies wrongdoing and denies having the ongoing relationship with Epstein that reports allege. Andriesz is not the first person at the center of the Epstein story to die before the case’s major questions were resolved. Jeffrey Epstein himself died in jail in 2019 while awaiting federal trial; his death was ruled a suicide. Model Ruslana Korshunova, later reported to have visited Epstein’s island, died in 2008; her death was ruled a suicide. Jean-Luc Brunel, an Epstein associate awaiting trial in France, died in jail in 2022; his death was ruled a suicide. Steven Hoffenberg, Epstein’s former business associate, was found dead at home in 2022. Carolyn Andriano, an Epstein victim and Maxwell trial witness, died in 2023; her death was ruled an accidental overdose. Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein’s most prominent accusers, died in 2025. Her family said she died by suicide; police said the death was not suspicious, though no final public coronial ruling has been issued. Investigative journalist and Andriesz associate John Robertson joins to discuss his legacy, his whistleblowing, and the questions his death leaves behind.
His allegations led to action elsewhere. US regulators, including the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Securities and Exchange Commission, pursued enforcement cases connected to BGC, while Britain’s tax authority imposed penalties on the firm. Andriesz received a $420,000 whistleblower award from US authorities, although he said his legal, medical and other costs had far exceeded the payout.
More recently, Andriesz emerged as a source of information about Lutnick’s previously undisclosed dealings with Epstein.
He said he uncovered 2018 emails in the released Epstein files showing Lutnick and the convicted sex offender discussing a digital-advertising company called Adfin, in which both had invested. Andriesz provided the material to the US House Oversight Committee before Lutnick testified to lawmakers in May. Lutnick told the panel he had not known until 2026 that Epstein was a fellow investor in the venture.
The revelations intensified scrutiny of Lutnick’s previous characterization of his relationship with Epstein. The Commerce Department has rejected accusations that Lutnick misled lawmakers, dismissing them as partisan attacks.
Andriesz’s death has now prompted British lawmakers and whistleblower campaigners to demand an independent examination of the FCA’s conduct.
Labour MP John McDonnell and other members of a cross-party parliamentary group have argued that the regulator should not be allowed to investigate itself. The FCA has instead appointed board member Lea Paterson to review its handling of Andriesz’s case.
The FCA claimed it took information supplied by Andriesz seriously but acknowledged errors in its dealings with him. Before his death, Andriesz had described its response to the alleged wrongdoing he exposed as little more than a regulatory “slap on the wrist.”
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