Emails sent to paedophile financier include birthday greetings four years after his conviction of procuring a minor for prostitution
 |
| Mary Erdoes led the efforts to find investors for Gianni Infantino’s Fifa sell-off plan Credit: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg |
The JP Morgan Chase banker who was one of the secret figures behind the Fifa sell-off plan is also under pressure for her links to the late paedophile and financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Mary Erdoes, 58, the head of the asset and wealth management division, led the bank’s efforts to find investors prepared to take part of the 20 per cent stake in Fifa which its president Gianni Infantino sought to sell.
Erdoes has also come under scrutiny for her previous longstanding connection to Epstein, who died in 2019. Documents released by the US authorities indicate that Erdoes only ended JP Morgan’s relationship with Epstein in 2013, five years after he was convicted in Florida of procuring a minor for prostitution.
Emails exchanged between the pair, first reported by The Banker financial news site, suggest that they were in contact regarding banking. Erdoes emailed Epstein birthday greetings from her JP Morgan account in 2012. The pair were in indirect contact via staff about the banking arrangements for another associate of Epstein, Kathryn Ruemmler, the former Goldman Sachs executive.
 |
| Kathryn Ruemmler (centre) former chief legal officer of Goldman Sachs, has also been linked to Jeffrey Epstein Credit: Al Drago/Reuters |
Erdoes is, according to the New York Times, understood to be one of the few individuals who knew about Infantino’s plans as they were formulated. Those involved selling a 20 per cent stake in Fifa at a value of $4.2bn (£3.1bn) to investors led by Joshua Kushner – the brother of US president Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner – and others. Infantino did not reveal the plan to his closest staff until days before the World Cup final.
Joshua Kushner’s investment vehicle, Thrive Eternal, and Fifa planned to use JP Morgan to find fellow investors for the putative sale, which was subsequently abandoned by Infantino. The Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) project caused uproar in world football and has left Infantino fighting for his future as Fifa president. The European governing body, Uefa, as well as counterparts in Asia and North and Central America have threatened to break away.
Erdoes, the bank’s second-highest earner last year on $32m (£24m), has not commented on her links to Infantino. The connection between the pair is not clear, although Infantino has been on stage with Erdoes when he spoke at a staff meeting at the bank.
Erdoes, the bank’s second-highest earner last year on $32m (£24m), has not commented on her links to Infantino. The connection between the pair is not clear, although Infantino has been on stage with Erdoes when he spoke at a staff meeting at the bank.
Previously JP Morgan apologised for its role in financing the 2021 European Super League. It is yet to make any comment on its role in FFE, or the relationship between Erdoes, the bank and Infantino.
 |
| Erdoes (right) and Infantino appeared together after he attended JP Morgan’s town hall Credit: Mary Erdoes on LinkedIn |
In terms of Erdoes’s dealings with Epstein, JP Morgan told The Banker: “We regret any association we had with the man [Epstein], but did not help him commit his heinous crimes.
“The firm filed multiple Suspicious Activity Reports beginning in 2002 but heard nothing back from the government.
“Mary Erdoes made the decision to close his accounts in 2013, six years before his arrest. Mary has always held herself and her colleagues to the highest standards of integrity and trust, is consistently recognised as one of the top executives in financial services and continues to be a critically important leader of our firm.”

JP Morgan banker who led Infantino’s Fifa sell-off has Epstein ties exposed
Emails sent to paedophile financier include birthday greetings four years after his conviction of procuring a minor for prostitution

74

Gift this article free
Add us as preferred source

Mary Erdoes led the efforts to find investors for Gianni Infantino’s Fifa sell-off plan Credit: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg
Sam Wallace
Chief Football Writer
Show biography

Published 10 August 2026 7:10pm BST
The JP Morgan Chase banker who was one of the secret figures behind the Fifa sell-off plan is also under pressure for her links to the late paedophile and financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Mary Erdoes, 58, the head of the asset and wealth management division, led the bank’s efforts to find investors prepared to take part of the 20 per cent stake in Fifa which its president Gianni Infantino sought to sell.
Erdoes has also come under scrutiny for her previous longstanding connection to Epstein, who died in 2019. Documents released by the US authorities indicate that Erdoes only ended JP Morgan’s relationship with Epstein in 2013, five years after he was convicted in Florida of procuring a minor for prostitution.
Emails exchanged between the pair, first reported by The Banker financial news site, suggest that they were in contact regarding banking. Erdoes emailed Epstein birthday greetings from her JP Morgan account in 2012. The pair were in indirect contact via staff about the banking arrangements for another associate of Epstein, Kathryn Ruemmler, the former Goldman Sachs executive.
Kathryn Ruemmler (centre) former chief legal officer of Goldman Sachs, has also been linked to Jeffrey Epstein Credit: Al Drago/Reuters
Erdoes is, according to the New York Times, understood to be one of the few individuals who knew about Infantino’s plans as they were formulated. Those involved selling a 20 per cent stake in Fifa at a value of $4.2bn (£3.1bn) to investors led by Joshua Kushner – the brother of US president Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner – and others. Infantino did not reveal the plan to his closest staff until days before the World Cup final.
Joshua Kushner’s investment vehicle, Thrive Eternal, and Fifa planned to use JP Morgan to find fellow investors for the putative sale, which was subsequently abandoned by Infantino. The Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) project caused uproar in world football and has left Infantino fighting for his future as Fifa president. The European governing body, Uefa, as well as counterparts in Asia and North and Central America have threatened to break away.
Erdoes, the bank’s second-highest earner last year on $32m (£24m), has not commented on her links to Infantino. The connection between the pair is not clear, although Infantino has been on stage with Erdoes when he spoke at a staff meeting at the bank.
Previously JP Morgan apologised for its role in financing the 2021 European Super League. It is yet to make any comment on its role in FFE, or the relationship between Erdoes, the bank and Infantino.
Erdoes (right) and Infantino appeared together after he attended JP Morgan’s town hall Credit: Mary Erdoes on LinkedIn
In terms of Erdoes’s dealings with Epstein, JP Morgan told The Banker: “We regret any association we had with the man [Epstein], but did not help him commit his heinous crimes.
“The firm filed multiple Suspicious Activity Reports beginning in 2002 but heard nothing back from the government.
“Mary Erdoes made the decision to close his accounts in 2013, six years before his arrest. Mary has always held herself and her colleagues to the highest standards of integrity and trust, is consistently recognised as one of the top executives in financial services and continues to be a critically important leader of our firm.”
Meanwhile, Fifa will face a further embarrassing episode on Wednesday when Omar Artan – the Somali referee refused entry to the United States for the World Cup – will take charge of Uefa’s curtain-raising Super Cup.
Artan has spoken about the “very tough period” he faced when denied entry to the US at Miami International Airport in June, before what should have been the highlight of his career.
Tensions were already high between Fifa and Uefa before the start of the World Cup, in which Infantino attracted further scrutiny for his role in the decision to suspend the two-match ban given to United States striker Folarin Balogun. In what was a thinly veiled move to humiliate the global governing body, Artan was named the match referee for Wednesday’s Super Cup in Salzburg between Aston Villa and Paris St-Germain.
 |
| Omar Artan was denied entry into the US before the World Cup, as Somalia is on the country’s travel ban list Credit: Hassan Ali Elmi/Getty Images |
Artan said on Monday: “It was a very tough period. A lot of people have sympathy for me, because when someone has been working a lot of years and is supposed to do something, and then can’t do it, it’s very challenging.
“I really appreciate the support I received throughout the world, though; I’m so grateful.”
Artan, 34, was subjected to an 11-hour immigration interview before he was denied entry to the US. Somalia is one of the 12 countries on the United States travel-ban list. Infantino later admitted publicly that he was powerless to overrule the ruling from Donald Trump’s administration.
The Fifa president told critics at a press conference before the World Cup to “chill and relax” about the controversy, and added: “We work on everything, we try to resolve everything, [but] immediately screaming and shouting, that’s the opposite of finding a solution.”
Aleksander Ceferin, the Uefa president, reacted by appointing Artan for the Super Cup, where he will become the first African official to take charge of the European season opener.
Artan added: “When we got this call it was, for me and my family, really a very, very happy moment. There’s a big Somali community in Europe and in Austria, and they are over the moon with me officiating a match like this.”
- Sam Wallace
