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---
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category: "Business & Finance"
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tags:
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- Person
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- SimonAndriesz
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- Whistleblower
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- BGC
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- CantorFitzgerald
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- HowardLutnick
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- JeffreyEpstein
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- FBI
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- CFTC
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- EpsteinFiles
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alias:
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- Simon Andriesz
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summary: "Simon Andriesz was a British former BGC managing director whose October 14, 2020 call to the FBI about Howard Lutnick appears in the Epstein files and whose death The Banker reported on October 2, 2026."
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location: "Cornwall, England"
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relations:
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- type: employed_by
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with: "[[BGC Group]]"
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end: 2017
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role: "described by the BBC as a managing director until his dismissal in 2017; in the FBI complaint form, responsible for reviewing, reporting and compliance for all of North America"
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fn: 5
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- type: reported_to
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with: "[[Federal Bureau of Investigation]]"
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start: 2020-10-14
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role: "National Threat Operations Center telephone complaint alleging money laundering by Howard Lutnick via BGC Financial and Cantor Fitzgerald (Guardian 681124 NY)"
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fn: 2
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- type: reported
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with: "[[Howard Lutnick]]"
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start: 2020-10-14
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role: "allegations of fraud, money laundering and Ponzi schemes made in the FBI complaint; denied by BGC as 'categorically false'"
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fn: 2
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- type: named_in
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with: "[[Federal Bureau of Investigation]]"
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start: 2021-02-16
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role: 'FD-302 (50D-NY-3027571, serial 593) of a telephone interview of February 16, 2021; the interviewee's name is redacted throughout and the surname "ANDREISZ" appears once, in a passage on charity-day trading'
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fn: 11
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- type: informed
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with: "[[House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform]]"
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start: 2026
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role: "gave members documents from the released Epstein files before Lutnick's May 2026 interview, according to the BBC"
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fn: 3
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- type: spoke_at
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with: "[[Transparency Task Force]]"
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start: 2026-07-21
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role: "online event on the Financial Conduct Authority and whistleblower protection"
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fn: 6
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created: 2026-10-04
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updated: 2026-10-04
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---
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Simon Andriesz was a British financial-markets professional who worked for [[BGC Group]] (called BGC Partners in the BBC's account), part of the [[Cantor Fitzgerald]] group, and who told the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] in October 2020, according to an FBI complaint form, that he believed he had supporting documents which could link the firms' chief executive, [[Howard Lutnick]], to [[Jeffrey Epstein]] and [[Ghislaine Maxwell]]. In July 2026 he told the [[BBC]] that he had found a 2018 email exchange between Epstein and an address labeled "HWL" about the company [[AdFin Solutions]]. [[The Banker]] reported on October 2, 2026 that he had died at the age of 57.[^1][^2][^3][^4]
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### Career as described by named sources
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The Banker described him as a "former British banker" who "spent more than 35 years working in financial markets" and who "was previously a managing director at Wall Street firm BGC Group where Lutnick, now the US commerce secretary, was chief executive officer."[^1] The BBC wrote that he was "previously a managing director at a Wall Street firm," that he worked for "BGC Partners," that in 2016 he "had raised concerns internally about accounting irregularities at the firm," and that he "was sacked in 2017." The BBC reported that he lived in a Cornish seaside village.[^5] The [[Transparency Task Force]] wrote that he "spent 35 years in the securities industry."[^6] A compilation of FBI Guardian complaints records "Andriesz, calling from the United Kingdom, previously worked for BGC Financial (BGC) and Can[tor Fitzgerald]," and the FBI complaint form of 2021 records the caller as "responsible for reviewing, reporting, and compliance for all of North America."[^2][^7]
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BGC told the BBC that his allegations "lacked credibility" and were "categorically false," that the claims had been investigated by authorities in several jurisdictions which, according to BGC, had not substantiated them, that it "denies retaliating against Andriesz," and that it has had no involvement with him since his departure other than responding to litigation he initiated. The BBC reported that BGC "maintains 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."[^5]
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### The CFTC order of November 2019
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On November 22, 2019 the [[Commodity Futures Trading Commission]] announced in release 8083-19 an order requiring BGC Financial, L.P. to pay a $3 million civil monetary penalty "for numerous supervision, reporting, and recordkeeping violations spanning over five years." The order finds that from at least 2014 to March 2019 BGC "failed to establish an adequate supervisory system," including failures to follow its policies on brokers' use of personal cell phones, that in 2016 BGC "lost nearly four months of voice recordings for thousands of brokered block trades," that it did not adequately disclose recordkeeping noncompliance in its 2015 and 2016 chief compliance officer reports, and that it did not notify the commission of a [[Securities and Exchange Commission]] investigation until "more than four years after BGC was aware of it and only after a $1.25 million settlement was reached."[^8]
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The release does not name a whistleblower. The BBC wrote that "some of his allegations later led to BGC being ordered to pay a $3m (£2.24m) penalty by the US derivatives regulator for 'numerous supervision, reporting, and record-keeping violations,'" and that he won "a financial award of $420,000 (£313,000) for his whistleblowing from the US regulator."[^5] The Transparency Task Force wrote that the commission "made him a formal whistleblower award and, in a separate enforcement action, imposed a $3 million sanction on the firm."[^6]
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### The October 14, 2020 FBI complaint
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At 9:16:24 a.m. Eastern Time on October 14, 2020 a caller telephoned the FBI's [[National Threat Operations Center]] to report "alleged money laundering by Howard Lutnick via BGC Financial and Cantor Fitzgerald." The FBI recorded the call on an FD-71A Guardian complaint form dated April 23, 2021 (Guardian 681124 NY), filed under a money-laundering zero file and case 50D-NY-3027571, "EPSTEIN, JEFFREY; CHILD SEX TRAFFICKING." The caller's name is redacted in that document, which was released by the [[United States Department of Justice]] as EFTA01249210.[^2] The name "Simon Andriesz" appears in a separate release, EFTA01684300, a printout of Guardian complaints, in the line giving the call time and in the fragments "Andriesz, calling from the United Kingdom, previously worked for BGC Financial (BGC) and Can[tor Fitzgerald]" and "Andriesz uncovered fraud, money laundering, Ponzi schemes, and regulat[ory breaches]."[^7]
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The form records the caller as saying that he "uncovered fraud, money laundering, Ponzi schemes, and regulatory breaches" by BGC and Cantor Fitzgerald, "so he became a whistleblower," and that BGC and Cantor Fitzgerald "received large fines and there are 'live cases' still occurring in the United Kingdom." It records his statements that Lutnick was using a "global Ponzi share" scheme "involving over 3,500 BGC employees who are forced to contribute 10% of their earnings," that Lutnick was "deeply rooted to the royal family," that he used his charities as a "smokescreen," that he "believes he has supporting documents which could link Lutnick to Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell," and that "Epstein also sold Lutnick a house for $10 dollars through a trust fund, which was then sold for millions shortly after prior to the money going overseas." The caller "stated he has multiple regulatory reporting documents he can provide to an agent to substantiate his claims." The form records database queries on Lutnick ("26 results in the NY division case files," including a restricted closed money-laundering case) and the note "Queries were not conducted on Epstein and Maxwell due to the sensitive nature of the case."[^2] The BBC wrote that "the FBI did not investigate these accusations."[^5]
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An email dated July 24, 2025, in a chain titled "Epstein - Cellmate Interview," lists under the heading "Howard Lutnick": "Simon Andriesz reported that Lutnick made his money through Ponzi schemes and money laundering. Lutnick and Epstein were neighbors and Epstein sold Lutnick a home for $10 which was then sold for millions." The same entry appears in three further released documents, EFTA01648951, EFTA01656173 and EFTA01660622.[^9]
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A second FBI intake form, marked "UNCLASSIFIED" and dated October 19, 2020 (five days after the call of October 14), bears the same case ID, 50D-NY-3027571, and the caption "(U) EPSTEIN, JEFFREY; CHILD SEX TRAFFICKING." It records the time of a call to the National Threat Operations Center as 11:43 AM Eastern Time. The name of the person who called is redacted. The form records that the person "acted as an internal whistleblower after witnessing some financial irregularities," that he "has documentation he is willing to provide to the FBI," that he "claims that Cantor Fitzgerald retaliated against him after he was a whistleblower," and that he "has also submitted this documentation to the [[Internal Revenue Service]]." It states that he "believes some of the suspicious financial activities could be related to Epstein's case."[^10]
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An FD-302 in case 50D-NY-3027571 (serial 593) records a telephone interview on February 16, 2021, entered April 5, 2021 and drafted March 17, 2021, with an interviewee whose name is redacted throughout. It records that he "had been in the securities business for 32 years," that he "was at" a redacted firm "from 2012 to 2017," and that he "held a Series 30 license," and refers to "the fraud allegations [redacted] made in his initial complaint to the FBI." The one place where a surname appears is a sentence on the second page, in a passage on the firm's charity day: "ANDREISZ advised the day of the charity day trading would shift if the publicized day was not a successful trading day." The third page records that the interviewee "was working with the COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION (CFTC) and he was eligible for their whistleblower program," and an agent note that after the interview a redacted name "contacted SA [redacted] telephonically asked if he could provide her contact information to the CFTC." The first page carries the legend "This document contains neither recommendations nor conclusions of the FBI." Each page carries the legend "SUBJECT TO PROTECTIVE ORDER PARAGRAPHS 7, 8, 9, 10, 15, and 17."[^11]
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An FBI email of January 30, 2025, sent under the subject "RE: Expedite ARMS Reach - Howard William Lutnick" (followed in the subject line by the classification suffix "UNCLASSIFIED") and marked "Classification: UNCLASSIFIED" and "Transitory," in reply to a vetting request from the Enterprise Vetting Center concerning Howard Lutnick, states: "This was an intake interview related to the Guardian in serial 196 where HOWARD LUTNICK was accused of fraud and money laundering. We did not open an investigation as a result of these allegations." The email does not name the person who made the accusation.[^12]
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At the House Oversight interview of May 6, 2026, a questioner said the committee understood "through public reporting and records, that an Epstein-affiliated trust had owned that townhome that you moved into prior to you" and asked whether Epstein had any role in the sale. Lutnick answered: "No. I bought my townhouse from someone ... who owned it. So Epstein did not own the house. So I don't know what that's in reference to."[^13]
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### The BBC reporting of July 14, 2026
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The BBC published a report by Andy Verity, Rob Byrne and Ben Milne on July 14, 2026, the day [[BBC Radio 4]]'s [[File on 4|File on 4 Investigates]] broadcast an episode titled "[[Epstein Files]]: Lutnick, the Royals and the British Whistleblower." The BBC wrote that Andriesz "discovered an email chain from 2018 in which Lutnick and Epstein had discussed the prospects of a start-up business they were both involved in." Andriesz said, "Everyone was searching 'Lutnick'"; the BBC wrote that he knew Cantor Fitzgerald executives preferred initials, searched for "HWL" and found the exchange in which Epstein asked the HWL account "what do you think the prospects for adfin are?" and the reply read "Producing revenue finally. This is their year." Andriesz gave the finding to members of the [[House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform|House Oversight Committee]] before Lutnick's May 2026 interview. The BBC reported that Lutnick told the committee that, to the best of his knowledge, he learned only in 2026 that Epstein had been an investor in the firm.[^3] The exchange is EFTA01050772.[^14]
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The BBC also reported that Andriesz found in the files that one of Lutnick's firms had made plans in 2013 to go into business with the then Prince Andrew, [[Prince Andrew|Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor]]. Andriesz told File on 4 Investigates: "What it involved was a loan to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor of £1m... to basically buy a prince." The BBC wrote that under the proposed terms £1 million would be loaned to a firm controlled by the prince, "which would then be bound to do business exclusively with Cantor Fitzgerald," that advisers to both Lutnick and the former prince discussed the deal from August to November 2013, that Epstein warned the prince's business aide [[David Stern]] against it, and that it "came to nothing." Cantor Fitzgerald "did not deny the talks took place but told the BBC it did not go into business with the former prince."[^3]
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The BBC reported the [[United States Department of Commerce|Commerce Department]]'s response that the allegations were "a desperate partisan distraction from the historic work of this Administration" with "no evidence of wrongdoing or legitimate cause for concern," and a [[White House]] statement on behalf of Lutnick: "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." It quoted Andriesz: "I'm exposing Howard Lutnick's relationship, financial links, with Jeffrey Epstein, and there's no interest."[^3]
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### The Transparency Task Force event
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The Transparency Task Force, a [[United Kingdom]] campaign group founded by [[Andy Agathangelou]], held an online event on July 21, 2026 titled "The Simon Andriesz Story; and the Role of the Financial Conduct Authority." Its announcement said he would "speak publicly for the first time about the Financial Conduct Authority's alleged failure to protect him from retaliation," and quoted him: "when I repeatedly warned the FCA, including through direct written appeals to Chief Executive [[Nikhil Rathi]] and senior enforcement leaders [[Steve Smart]] and [[Therese Chambers]], that the retaliation was escalating and that my family and I were in crisis, it took no effective action to protect me." The announcement stated that his FBI file was "now public as part of the January 2026 release under the [[Epstein Files Transparency Act]]," that [[HM Revenue and Customs]] "issued a £96 million determination concerning the same partnership tax arrangements that Mr Andriesz says he had been reporting since 2017," that the [[Financial Conduct Authority]]'s response was "a Supervision Order," and that an FCA official had told him he had lost whistleblower protection, advice the announcement says the FCA later accepted was wrong and apologised for.[^6]
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### Death
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The Banker published on October 2, 2026 an article by Chris Newlands headed "Whistleblower who flagged Lutnick's links to Epstein dies," which stated that Andriesz "has died by suicide," that he was 57, and that his death "was confirmed by Andy Agathangelou, the founder of campaign group Transparency Task Force." Agathangelou was quoted: "It is with great sadness that we share the news that Simon Andriesz, a valued member of our community, passed away last week." The article repeated the BBC's account of the 2018 email chain and Lutnick's statement that "I unequivocally condemn the conduct attributed to Jeffrey Epstein and everyone who participated in his illegal activities."[^1][^4]
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### Footnotes
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[^1]: Chris Newlands, "Whistleblower who flagged Lutnick's links to Epstein dies," *The Banker,* October 2, 2026. https://www.thebanker.com/content/02286d53-0338-42ef-996d-5f7712b9f133
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[^2]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01249210, DataSet 9, FBI FD-71A Guardian Complaint Form, "Alleged Money Laundering by Howard Lutnick via BGC Financial and Cantor Fitzgerald," April 23, 2021. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA01249210.pdf
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[^3]: Verity, Byrne and Milne, *BBC News,* July 14, 2026; BBC Radio 4, "Epstein Files: Lutnick, the Royals and the British Whistleblower," File on 4 Investigates, July 14, 2026. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9q28dlyxrzo ; https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002yx47
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[^4]: Newlands, *The Banker,* October 2, 2026.
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[^5]: Andy Verity, Rob Byrne and Ben Milne, "How US commerce secretary's Epstein links were uncovered by British whistleblower," *BBC News,* July 14, 2026. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9q28dlyxrzo
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[^6]: Transparency Task Force, "The Simon Andriesz Story; and the Role of the Financial Conduct Authority," event of July 21, 2026. https://transparencytaskforce.org/the-simon-andriesz-story-and-the-role-of-the-financial-conduct-authority/
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[^7]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01684300, DataSet 10, compilation of FBI Guardian complaints, pages EFTA01684332, EFTA01684377, EFTA01684392, EFTA01684407 and EFTA01684422. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01684300.pdf
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[^8]: U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, release 8083-19, "CFTC Orders BGC Financial, L.P. to Pay $3 Million for Supervision, Reporting, and Recordkeeping Violations," November 22, 2019. https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/8083-19
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[^9]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01648946 (page 2), DataSet 10, email of July 24, 2025, "Epstein - Cellmate Interview"; EFTA01648951, EFTA01656173 and EFTA01660622, DataSet 10. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01648946.pdf ; https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01648951.pdf ; https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01656173.pdf ; https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01660622.pdf
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[^10]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01249205, DataSet 9, FBI Intake, October 19, 2020. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA01249205.pdf
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[^11]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01249207, DataSet 9, FD-302, 50D-NY-3027571 Serial 593, interview of February 16, 2021 (pages EFTA01249207 to EFTA01249209). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA01249207.pdf
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[^12]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00173881, DataSet 9, email chain "Expedite ARMS Reach - Howard William Lutnick," January 30, 2025. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00173881.pdf
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[^13]: U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, transcribed interview of Howard Lutnick, May 6, 2026, p. 30. https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Lutnick-Transcript.pdf
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[^14]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01050772, DataSet 9, email chain "Re: thanks for letting me know," May 28, 2018. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA01050772.pdf
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