Former Maldivian President Dr. Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik has denied any financial dealings with disgraced sex offender Jeffrey Epstein or any awareness of his 2008 conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor when he met him.
Recently released documents by the US Justice Department, pertaining to the investigations into Epstein, names Waheed among influential figures who had dealings with the late American financer, who killed himself in his jail cell in 2019.
Waheed, who said that he regrets any association with Epstein and refutes any intended wrongdoing, resigned from his post as Special Envoy to President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu on Tuesday, following mounting public concern over the meetings he had with Epstein and the emails they exchanged.
In a statement announcing his resignation, Waheed’s office said that any interaction he or his family had with Epstein were limited to professional contexts.
“In reference to online posts regarding alleged emails and meetings with Epstein, any interaction President Waheed or his family had were never social in nature and never involved parties or informal gatherings; it was limited to professional contexts in the presence of others of official standing,” reads the statement.
The office also denied Waheed or his family were ever aware of or witnessed any criminal conduct.
According to his office, Epstein was recommended to Waheed by highly influential and respected statesmen as one of the most influential fund managers and financial advisors in New York, capable of advising on the budgetary needs of the Maldives at a time when the country was in desperate need of assistance.
“…President Waheed met him to solicit information, guidance and support. Epstein was never paid, and though solicited for support, ultimately he did not have any financial dealings with either President Waheed or the Maldives Government,” reads the statement.
In 2008, Epstein pleaded guilty to charges of soliciting prostitution and soliciting prostitution from a minor under the age of 18 in Palm Beach, Florida.
The first meeting between the then-President Waheed and Epstein was in 2012.
According to his office, Waheed and his team failed to do the due diligence required in advance of the first meeting, and he was therefore unaware of Epstein’s 2008 conviction.
“President Waheed was unaware of the charge against Epstein in 2008 and his subsequent incarceration and therefore failed to grasp the gravity of Epstein's felony conviction in 2008 and his potential deviancy,” reads the statement. “Had he known, President Waheed would have ensured the relationship did not continue past that first meeting.”
The rights and dignity of survivors of sexual exploitation and gender based violence must be our foremost priority. President @DrWaheedH regrets any association with Epstein, refutes any intended wrongdoing, but submits his resignation as Special Envoy of the President. pic.twitter.com/TcfvqqVynm
— Office of President Waheed (@DrWaheedOffice) February 3, 2026
According to his office, Waheed met with Epstein on two occasions at his New York residence: on September 23, 2012, when he attended a dinner with other senior statesmen, and on May 18, 2014m when Waheed and his son, Jeffry Salim Waheed visited briefly.
According to his office, the 2012 meeting was planned in advance and on the official schedule of then-President Waheed, with both the President's Office and Foreign Ministry involved in the coordination the visit.
“In his service to both the Maldives and the other nations he has worked in through the course of his career, President Waheed has met and worked with a variety of prominent individuals in order to execute his respective mandates to the best of his ability,” reads the statement.
His office said that Waheed regrets any association with this individual.
“Had President Waheed known the depraved Individual Epstein was, he would not have maintained contact with him, in any way, shape, or form,” reads the statement.
“Despite a refutation of any intended wrongdoing, either while in office or following his tenure as President, due to the toxicity around any, even benign, association with Epstein, and an inability to effectively continue with his current mandate, President Waheed has submitted his resignation from the post of Special Envoy of the President of Maldives to President Mohamed Muizzu.”
Documents released by the US Justice Department pertaining to the investigations of Epstein, have revealed a notable list of individuals, including tech industry leaders, Wall Street figures, members of the British royal family, Norway's Crown Princess, and prominent politicians and diplomats.
Many have denied having close ties to the late financier, or at least having anything to do with his alleged sexual abuse of girls and young women that led to his arrest on sex trafficking charges.
None have been charged with a crime connected to the investigation.