Notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein lobbied Lord Mendelsohn on behalf of a Dubai businessman to secure a £1.8 billion port project on the banks of the River Thames in the UK.
The businessman, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, from Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), is the chairman of the country's port operator DPWorld. Sulayem was trying to secure government loan guarantees and investment for his London Gateway project.
The interim government has decided to lease the New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT) of Chittagong Port to Dubai's DP World, a port operator. Workers and employees of Chittagong Port are holding various programs, including a strike, against this decision.
According to DP World's website, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem is still serving as chairman of the company that operates the port of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
The US Department of Justice recently released more than three million documents on Epstein. According to the documents, Epstein sent an email to the then UK Trade Secretary Lord Mendelsohn in 2009 seeking investment.
The message, written by bin Sulayem in May 2009, described the project as "the largest infrastructure investment project in the UK (£1.8 billion)" and "one of the biggest job opportunities".
Bin Sulayem sought financial assistance from the UK government to build that infrastructure.
At the time, Dubai government-owned DPWorld was building a deep-sea port on the River Thames in Essex, so that container ships could dock closer to the capital.
DP World said the new port would create 36,000 jobs and add £3.2 billion a year to the UK economy.
In another email sent to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in July 2009, Bin Sulayem wrote, "Since the banks are not very optimistic about the UK economy, the UK government will have to guarantee the loans."
In a November 2009 email, Bin Sulayem asked Epstein to look at a message he had written to Lord Mendelsohn. He wrote that he would send it to "Peter" (Lord Mendelsohn) in 20 minutes.
The email emphasized the need for a government loan guarantee for the project, stressing the importance of resolving the issue ahead of a state visit by UAE Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
In his email, Bin Sulayem warned that the future of the project was uncertain without government approval. He urged Lord Mendelson to discuss the government's assumption of the debt. He said this was necessary to encourage British banks to provide the necessary funds.
Epstein wrote in response to that message that he had made some 'minor corrections' to the text.
Another email shows that Epstein gave bin Sulayem Lord Mendelsohn's personal email address when he tried to arrange a meeting in September 2009.
In January 2010, DPWorld confirmed that it would go ahead with the UK port project. The then Prime Minister Gordon Brown said that the investment was a "huge symbol of confidence" in the UK economy's recovery from the financial crisis.
At the time of this email leak, DPWorld itself was in financial trouble. The Dubai government later bailed out the company.
The latest release of Epstein's emails has revealed the personal details of his close relationships with the world's top businessmen, including Bin Sulayem.
Epstein died in a New York prison in 2019. At the time, he was being tried for sex trafficking. He exchanged hundreds of emails with Bin Sulayem.
It is alleged that one of the emails included an offer to train a Russian 'masseur'. It is also known that there were other emails containing offensive messages.
Epstein has been accused by numerous women of trafficking women and forcing them into sex work on his private island, Little St. James, in the Caribbean.
The latest leak also revealed the depth of Epstein's relationship with Lord Mendelsohn. Lord Mendelsohn resigned from the Labour Party on Sunday night after the revelations.
.png)
0 Comments