Leaked emails have revealed that former President Mohamed Waheed Hassan contacted Jeffrey Epstein in 2012 seeking help to secure a USD 500 million loan for the Maldives government during his administration. Epstein, a financier later convicted of sex crimes, was accused of running an extensive child sex trafficking ring.
The emails, published as part of a wider leak of more than 100,000 messages from former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, show that Waheed wrote to Epstein on 28 July 2012 asking for assistance in arranging a loan. In the message, Waheed said he had consulted then-Finance Minister Abdulla Jihad and proposed a 10-year repayment period.
Waheed thanked Epstein for his support and asked him to advise on possible ways to obtain the loan due to the global financial climate at the time. Epstein later forwarded Waheed’s email to Jes Staley, then CEO of JPMorgan’s Corporate and Investment Bank, according to the leaked records.
On 31 August 2012, a month after Waheed’s message to Epstein, the Maldives received a USD 500 million loan from China, international news agencies including Reuters reported.
Attempts by media to reach Waheed for comment have been unsuccessful.
The disclosures follow another leaked exchange between Epstein and Barak, dated 28 April 2014. In that email, Epstein wrote, “I have Peter Thiel on the 19th in NY, if you like, as well as the former President of the Maldives.” The email did not specify which Maldivian leader he was referring to, and it is unclear if the meeting took place.
At the time, the Maldives had three living former presidents: Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, Mohamed Nasheed, and Mohamed Waheed. Nasheed has publicly denied meeting Epstein, writing on X, that he was “nowhere near New York” during the dates in question.
Epstein was first investigated in 2005 on allegations of child molestation. He was convicted in 2008 and sentenced to 18 months in prison, serving 13. He was arrested again in July 2019 on sex trafficking charges and was found dead in his New York prison cell on 10 August that year.