Questions have arisen over Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s name appearing in the Jeffrey Epstein files, after a 2012 email suggested he could open a “gold mine” for US investment bank JP Morgan.
The email was part of millions of pages of documents released by the US Department of Justice, which made public unclassified records related to investigations and prosecutions of Epstein, the financier at the center of a global sex trafficking scandal. Epstein’s network has implicated several high-profile US politicians and financiers.
In the email, an individual claiming to be close to Anwar proposed arranging a meeting between him and “Jes,” believed to refer to Jes Staley, a former JP Morgan banker who later resigned following revelations about his ties to Epstein.
“Should we arrange a private meeting for Jes with Anwar Ibrahim?” the email, dated Feb. 21, 2012, read. “If he becomes prime minister of Malaysia, he will clean up and it could be a gold mine for JPM. I know Anwar well, always stayed close to him for many years even though everybody said he’s finished and can never come back. Looks different now.”
Epstein responded positively, inquiring whether Anwar would be available for a meeting in Europe or the US. The email chain suggested Anwar might be visiting Europe the following month or Malaysia in May, depending on the election schedule. Epstein also proposed meeting Anwar in Paris alongside filmmaker Woody Allen.
It is unclear whether any of these meetings took place or where Anwar traveled during that period.
Epstein was convicted in 2008 of procuring a child for prostitution and soliciting a prostitute, serving 13 months in jail. He died in 2019 while awaiting trial on charges of running a network of underage girls for sex.
Two weeks after the correspondence, former Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohamad accused Anwar of being a tool of US influence and warned that he would act on behalf of foreign interests if he became prime minister. Mahathir’s statement came shortly after Anwar was acquitted in the High Court of a sodomy charge in 2012; he was later convicted of the same charge in 2014.
Following the release of the email, Bersatu Youth spokesman Na’im Brundage urged Anwar to clarify the matter. “As the prime minister, Anwar Ibrahim must provide a full explanation to protect the dignity and integrity of the country’s leadership,” he said. Brundage called the suggestion that Anwar could open a “gold mine” for JP Morgan troubling and said it raised questions that needed to be addressed openly.
The revelation comes amid growing scrutiny over the Malaysia-US Reciprocal Trade Agreement (ART) signed by Anwar last October. Critics have argued that the agreement is one-sided, aligns Malaysia with American geopolitical interests, and favors the US economy, although Anwar and Pakatan Harapan leaders have defended it as a measure to reduce US trade tariffs on Malaysia.
