BANGKOK, Thailand – Simon Andriesz, a 57-year-old British banker and whistleblower, was found dead in Khlong Luang on the outskirts of Bangkok on the morning of 23 September, with local authorities recording the cause as asphyxiation from hanging.

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Andriesz, who spent years on Wall Street and had recently been living in Cornwall, was known for allegations against his former employer BGC Group and its ex-chief executive Howard Lutnick, now US Commerce Secretary under President Donald Trump.

His family described him as a much-loved husband, father, brother, son and friend whose death left “an enormous hole” in their lives. In a statement to the Daily Mail, they said he had a strong sense of right and wrong and found it hard to look away when he believed something was amiss, adding that his determination came at considerable personal cost but he kept speaking out because he believed it mattered. They hoped he would be remembered for his life, courage and the issues he sought to expose, and said better treatment and support for whistleblowers and vulnerable people would be part of his legacy, asking for compassion and privacy for his son and loved ones. Friend John Robertson has launched a GoFundMe appeal for his son’s education and future, targeting 35,000 pounds.

Andy Agathangelou of the Transparency Task Force confirmed the death, calling Andriesz a whistleblower who stood up for what was right and a valued member of the group, while financial-services expert Paul Callin said he had “bravely fought alone” for years pursuing what he believed was wrongdoing.

Andriesz spent 35 years in securities and was a managing director at BGC Group, formerly BGC Partners, where Lutnick was CEO; he was dismissed in 2017. He later supplied the House Oversight Committee with Epstein files material before Lutnick testified in May, saying 2018 emails showed Lutnick and Jeffrey Epstein discussing a start-up venture in which both were involved — a decade after Epstein’s 2008 conviction for soliciting prostitution from a child.

Lutnick said he only learned this year that Epstein had invested in the firm, and the US Commerce Department said there was no evidence of wrongdoing. BGC disputed the allegations as “categorically false and unsubstantiated” after investigations in several jurisdictions, declined to relitigate them after his death, offered condolences and maintained he was dismissed for refusing medical advice, declining essential duties and abandoning his role.

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Andriesz also told the BBC that one of Lutnick’s firms had weighed a 2013 venture with Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor involving a one-million-pound loan to commercially exploit the former UK trade envoy’s contacts, though the deal never happened. UK MPs have called for a probe into how the Financial Conduct Authority handled his whistleblower concerns, with the FCA saying non-executive director Lea Paterson will review its interactions with him to draw lessons.

-Thailand News (TN)