Epstein Whistleblower Simon Andriesz Dies by Suicide Years After Taking Claims About Howard Lutnick to the FBI

Simon Andriesz, a former banker who told the FBI in 2020 and 2021 about allegations concerning Howard Lutnick's links to Jeffrey Epstein and his former employer BGC, has died by suicide, according to The Banker. The publication reported his death, aged 57, on 2 October 2026.

Andy Agathangelou, founder of Transparency Task Force, confirmed Andriesz's death but did not state a cause in the announcement quoted by the publication. The reporting reviewed for this article does not cite an official finding on the cause of death or evidence linking it to Lutnick, Epstein, BGC or Andriesz's disclosures.

Why the Adfin Email Matters

Andriesz featured in a BBC File on 4 Investigates report published on 14 July 2026. He described searching the released Epstein files for 'HWL', Lutnick's initials, and identifying 2018 correspondence about Adfin, a digital advertising company in which Epstein and Cantor Fitzgerald had invested.

Epstein asked the account identified as Lutnick's: 'what do you think the prospects for adfin are?' The response read: 'Producing revenue finally. This is their year. Next 12 months they need to become economically self-sufficient.'

Lutnick, now US commerce secretary, had previously said he ended contact with Epstein years earlier. Andriesz told the BBC that he raised concerns about Lutnick's financial links to Epstein with the FBI in 2020 and 2021 but encountered 'no interest'.

The White House rejected the BBC investigation, calling it a 'pathetic and desperate attempt to slander Secretary Lutnick'. That statement was issued in response to the July reporting, not following Andriesz's death.

Lutnick's Congressional Accounts

Andriesz shared the correspondence with the House Oversight Committee before Lutnick's appearance in May 2026. Lutnick told the committee that, to the best of his knowledge, he had only learned that year that Epstein was an investor in Adfin.

All 21 Democrats on the committee signed a letter demanding his resignation and accused him of lying. The BBC reported that Lutnick had not been accused of wrongdoing in connection with Epstein.

Responding to the BBC's July investigation, the Commerce Department said Lutnick had 'voluntarily appeared before Congress to answer hundreds of questions, with no evidence of wrongdoing or legitimate cause for concern'.

BGC Dispute and Regulatory Findings

The BBC reported that Andriesz raised internal concerns about accounting irregularities at BGC in 2016 and was dismissed in 2017. He said the subsequent litigation had severely affected his career, finances and health.

BGC told the BBC that his allegations were "categorically false" and said investigations in several jurisdictions had not substantiated them. The company denied retaliation and said his employment ended because he refused medical advice, declined essential duties, rejected reasonable accommodation and abandoned his role.

Separately, in November 2019, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission ordered BGC Financial to pay a $3 million penalty (about £2.27 million) for supervision, reporting and recordkeeping violations. Those findings concerned regulatory compliance, not the allegations about Epstein.

The BBC reported that some of Andriesz's disclosures contributed to the action and that he received a separate $420,000 whistleblower award from the CFTC (about £318,000). The regulatory findings therefore remain distinct from his later examination of the Epstein files and his allegations about Lutnick.

Transparency Task Force Pays Tribute

Agathangelou announced Andriesz's death in a statement quoted by The Banker, describing him as a valued member of the Transparency Task Force community.

'It is with great sadness that we share the news that Simon Andriesz, a valued member of our community, passed away last week,' he said. The announcement did not give a cause of death.