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Financial groups in Canada and the United Kingdom said they’ve paused future ventures with the company DP World after newly released emails showed a yearslong friendship between the company’s CEO, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, and Jeffrey Epstein.
The emails — some referencing porn, sexual massages and escorts — surfaced in the cache of Epstein-related documents recently released by the U.S. Department of Justice. DP World is a logistics giant that runs the Jebel Ali port in Dubai and operates terminals in other ports around the world.
Sulayem, its chairman and CEO, made headlines this week when U.S. officials appeared to associate him with an email in which Epstein wrote, “I loved the torture video.”
In response to the released emails, British International Investment, the UK’s development finance agency, said they “will not be making any new investments with DP World until the required actions have been taken by the company.” One of Canada’s largest pension funds, La Caisse, gave a similar statement.
Epstein killed himself in jail in 2019 after he was charged with sex trafficking. The emails do not appear to implicate Sulayem in Epstein’s alleged crimes. DP World has not responded to multiple requests for comment.
In 2009, Epstein wrote in an email, “where are you? are you ok , I loved the torture video.”
The recipient, whose email was redacted, replied, “I am in china I will be in the US 2nd week of may.”
On Monday, Republican Rep. Thomas Massie posted a picture of the redacted emails on X, saying “A Sultan seems to have sent this” and that the Justice Department should “make this public.”
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche responded to Massie’s post that “the Sultan’s name is available unredacted in the files” and cited another document that names “Sultan Bin Sulayem.”
La Caisse said in an statement that it’s pausing new “capital deployment” with DP World. “We have made it clear to the company that we expect it to shed light on the situation and take the necessary actions.”
British International Investment said through a spokesperson that they “are shocked by the allegations emerging in the Epstein files regarding Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem.”
Neither organization is an investor in DP World, but they both have invested alongside the company in port projects around the world.