Rigobert Andely

Rigobert Andely is a senior official at the Finance Ministry of the Republic of Congo (Congo Brazzaville). He co-authored a business plan for a new private bank to be based in Brazzaville, focused on oil and mining project financing, public oil fund management, and government debt transactions. South African bank partnerships (Nedbank and ABSA) were to provide institutional backing; Qatari sovereign capital was the target funding source, channeled through Ghanim Bin Saad Al Saad of Qatari Diar. Andely had a prior relationship with Peter Mandelson that predated Epstein's involvement. On October 3, 2010, after meeting in Brazzaville, Mandelson wrote to him: "I was really pleased to see you again after all these years and to talk about the bank project." Epstein was introduced to the project in January 2011. Andely arranged to meet Epstein at 22 Avenue Foch in Paris but cancelled at the last minute, citing instructions from "my Big Boss in Brazzaville." He reports to both Mandelson and Jean-Yves Ollivier.