New Delhi, Feb. 28 -- The European Union has ordered its anti-fraud office to investigate Peter Mandelson, the disgraced former British ambassador to the United States, over his ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein while serving as Brussels' trade representative.

"Given the circumstances, and the significant amount of documents made available publicly, the European Commission also asked OLAF on 18 February to look into the matter," a commission spokesperson who was not authorized to be publicly named said late Thursday.

The European Anti-Fraud Office, known by its French acronym OLAF, is the EU's watchdog agency that has tackled migration authorities and lawmakers for financial fraud and rights violations, among other violatio...