Adds details from statement, background from paragraph 3

Feb 11 (Reuters) - The Gates Foundation said on Wednesday it did not make any financial payments to late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein or employ him at any time, after the U.S. Department of Justice released emails that included communications between Epstein and the foundation's staff.

"On the basis of Epstein's claims that he could mobilize significant philanthropic resources for global health and development, a small number of foundation employees interacted with Epstein to try to secure this potential funding," the foundation said in a statement.

"Ultimately, the foundation did not pursue any collaboration with Epstein and no fund was ever created," the foundation said, adding that it "regrets having any employees interact with Epstein in any way".

The Gates Foundation, the philanthropic organization started by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and his then-wife in 2000, is one of the world's biggest funders of global health initiatives. Bill Gates is chair and board member of the foundation.

The DOJ's release of millions of documents related to Epstein has revealed the late sex offender's ties to many prominent people, both before and after he pleaded guilty in 2008 to prostitution charges, including soliciting an underage girl. His 2019 death in a Manhattan jail cell was ruled a suicide.

The documents indicate Bill Gates and Epstein met repeatedly after Epstein's prison term to discuss expanding Gates' philanthropic efforts. They also included pictures of Gates posing with women whose faces are redacted. Gates has said the relationship was confined to philanthropy-related discussions and that it was a mistake for him to meet with Epstein.

(Reporting by Kanjyik Ghosh in Barcelona; Editing by Edmund Klamann and Daniel Wallis)

((Kanjyik.Ghosh@thomsonreuters.com;))