Zimbabwe’s former President Robert Mugabe has emerged as the latest ex-African leader mentioned in newly released files linked to convicted US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
According to the documents, Epstein may have had financial links with Mugabe. A 2015 email exchange between Epstein and Japanese entrepreneur Joi Ito suggests the pair discussed approaching Mugabe, who was president at the time, with a proposal to help Zimbabwe introduce a new currency following the collapse of the local dollar due to hyperinflation.
Further documents released in 2017 by the FBI include unverified claims from a “human confidential source” alleging that Epstein acted as a wealth manager for Russian President Vladimir Putin and provided similar services for Mugabe.
However, being mentioned in the Epstein files does not, on its own, imply any wrongdoing.
The BBC has contacted the Mugabe family for comment.
Robert Mugabe, who led Zimbabwe to independence and ruled the country for decades, died in September 2019 at the age of 95, two years after being removed from power in a military-backed coup.
Epstein, a powerful and well-connected US financier, died by suicide in a New York prison in August 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges. He had previously been convicted in 2008 of soliciting sex from a 14-year-old girl in Florida and was released in 2010 after serving his sentence.
The latest set of files released by the US Department of Justice includes emails exchanged between Epstein and Joichi “Joi” Ito five years later. In one message, titled “fertile land for exploration,” Epstein proposed engaging Mugabe over Zimbabwe’s currency crisis. When Ito asked whether Epstein was friends with Mugabe, Epstein responded that while they were not friends, he could “easily get his attention,” adding that Zimbabwe would be “a great petri dish” and was “supposed to be beautiful.”