London, UK - The whistleblower who exposed Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick's alleged ties to notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein recently passed away.

Last Friday, The Banker reported that former British banker Simon Andriesz "took his own life" on Wednesday, September 23.

On Monday, Andriesz's X account appeared to confirm the news by sharing a link to a story from Money Marketing about his death.

In 2012, Andriesz began his work as managing director at the Wall Street firm BGC Group, where Lutnick served as chief executive.

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In 2016, Andriesz came forward with allegations of fraud against the company, which uncovered links between Lutnick and Epstein through business dealings with a startup company called Adfin. He later alleged that he was fired the following year in retaliation for his whistleblowing.

In July 2026, Andriesz was featured on an episode of BBC's File on 4 Investigates, where he detailed his experiences coming forward.

Andriesz created an X account the following month and shared a post introducing himself as the "whistleblower who reported evidence concerning Howard Lutnick, his links to Jeffrey Epstein, and Cantor Fitzgerald and BGC to the FBI in 2020–21."

He detailed all of his allegations and claimed his decision to come forward has led to "personal consequences" that have been "devastating for my family and me."

News of his death quickly sparked a wave of suspicion on social media.

"I think this is more than 20+ people involved as an Epstein victim or key Epstein witness that has died mysteriously or had a "suicide" that no one connected to them thinks was a 'suicide,'" author Don Winslow wrote on X, while comedian Russell Brand said, "Not suspicious at all..."

During his 2024 presidential campaign, President Donald Trump vowed to release all federal files on Epstein to the public, but after winning, he and his administration attempted to evade doing so.

The administration has released a portion of heavily redacted files in which Lutnick is mentioned over 250 times, including in personal email exchanges with the financier.

Lutnick was also Epstein's next-door neighbor in Manhattan for years, but he has repeatedly shifted his own accounts about their relationship.

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In a previous interview with Pod Force One, Lutnick claimed that he and his wife caught on to Epstein being "gross" and cut ties with him.

But photos released in the Epstein files revealed that Lutnick had made a trip to the financier's notorious "Epstein Island" sometime after his claims.

In a hearing last year before the Senate Appropriations Committee, Lutnick said he and his family took a boat trip to the island to have lunch with Epstein "for an hour."

Despite the allegations against Lutnick, Trump has insisted on keeping him in his cabinet and as a close ally.

Notably, former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene told the New York Times that when she publicly threatened to release names of men in the Epstein files, Trump called her yelling and said, "My friends will get hurt."

If you or someone you know need help, please contact the 24-hour National Suicide Prevention Hotline by calling or texting 988 for free and confidential support. You can also text "HOME" to 741741 anytime for the Crisis Text Line and access to live, trained crisis counselors.