The European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), the EU's investigative body for fraud and serious misconduct within EU institutions, has launched a formal investigation into Lord Peter Mandelson, the British politician who was dismissed as UK ambassador to the United States in September 2025 over his ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The European Commission referred the case to OLAF two months ago, asking it to examine allegations of misconduct during Mandelson's tenure as EU trade commissioner between 2004 and 2008, including claims that he provided Epstein with advance notice of a €500 billion eurozone bailout package designed to prevent Greece's financial crisis from spreading to other eurozone countries. OLAF, which can recommend sanctions — potentially including revocation of Mandelson's EU pension — but cannot prosecute, said it would pass any criminal findings to the European Prosecutor's Office; Mandelson has not publicly commented but is understood to deny any criminal wrongdoing or financial motivation.