Canada’s second-largest pension fund and a UK government investment firm have suspended all future investments with the UAE’s DP World over links to child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and the company’s chief executive, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem.
“We have made it clear to the company that we expect it to shed light on the situation and take the necessary actions,” a spokesperson for Quebec’s La Caisse pension fund told Bloomberg in an emailed statement. “Until then, we are pausing additional capital deployment alongside the company.”
The Canadian pension fund is one of DP World’s largest financial partners and holds a 45 percent stake in DP World Canada, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.
After La Caisse’s decision, British International Investment (BII), the UK’s development finance agency, announced on Wednesday that it was also suspending future investments with DP World.
“We are shocked by the allegations emerging in the Epstein files regarding Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem,” a BII spokesperson was quoted by Reuters.
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“In light of the allegations, we will not be making any new investments with DP World until the required actions have been taken by the company.”
BII is a partner of DP World at four African ports, including Berbera Port in the breakaway region of Somaliland.
The announcements are notable because they appear to mark the first time major business links have been impacted as a result of the newly released tranche of Epstein emails.
Sulayem’s ties to Epstein were revealed in correspondence that showed him bragging about his sexual exploits with multiple Eastern European women who appear to be sex workers, and trying to entice a businesswoman.
“After several attemps (sic) for several months we managed to meet in NY. There is a missunderstanding (sic) she she wanted some BUSINESS! while i only wanted some PUSSYNESS!” Sulayem told Epstein in a November 2007 email, first reported by Dropsite news.
The UAE business titan was also pictured in a photograph with Epstein inspecting fabric that resembled a piece of the Kiswa, the sacred black-and-gold silk cloth that covers the Kaaba in Mecca.
MEE reached out to DP World for comment but did not receive a reply by the time of publication.
Torture video
Sulayem’s entanglement with Epstein took a much darker turn when two US lawmakers revealed he was one of six men whose names were redacted out of the Epstein files by the Trump administration. His name was eventually revealed this week following intense pressure from Republican Congressman Thomas Massie and Democrat Ro Khanna.
Massie said Sulayem was the sender of a “torture” video to Epstein.
In a post on X this week, Massie shared an email exchange where Epstein thanks a redacted sender for sharing a “torture video”.
“Where are you? Are you ok, I loved the torture video,” Epstein wrote on 24 April 2009.
In a follow-up post on X, Massie wrote that the Department of Justice “tacitly admitted that Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem was the sender of the torture video”.
Epstein was convicted in 2008 for “solicitating prostitution and one count of soliciting prostitution from someone under the age of 18”, which is child sex trafficking, but uses wording that, even according to the US State Department, is considered inappropriate.
Dozens of powerful figures kept in close contact with Esptein after, including former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.
Sulayem communicated with Epstein for more than a decade after he was convicted.
DP World is owned by the government of Dubai, one of the seven emirates in the UAE. The Gulf state, like its fellow energy-rich neighbours, is a monarchy. Abu Dhabi brokers no dissent, and it’s unclear whether Sulayem will face any public pressure in the UAE. He is, however, a high-flyer at western summits and events like Davos.
DP World’s business with La Caisse is also significant.
La Caisse launched its partnership with DP World in 2016, committing to invest $3.7bn in the UAE’s firm’s ports and terminals across the globe. In 2022, La Caisse invested $2.5bn in DP World’s Jebel Ali Port, Jebel Ali Free Zone and the National Industries Park.
Ports are viewed as good long-term investments for pension funds because they can return a steady cash flow. The fact that they are physical assets also helps reduce inflation risks for funds that need to think about long-term payments to pension members.