Merwin dela cruz

Merwin dela Cruz served as house manager at Jeffrey Epstein's Manhattan townhouse at 9 East 71st Street from at least 2011 until Epstein's arrest in July 2019. The archive contains 11,851 emails involving dela Cruz, documenting his extensive responsibilities managing the property, coordinating contractors and vendors, overseeing cleaning staff, and maintaining apartments at 301 East 66th Street where Epstein housed female assistants and guests. According to public reporting, dela Cruz also served as Epstein's bodyguard and driver, and in 2015 was dispatched to intimidate photographer Christopher Anderson into surrendering photos from a Vanity Fair shoot. FBI records document that dela Cruz packed items from Epstein's safe on July 7, 2019—the day after Epstein's arrest—and delivered them to attorney Richard Kahn, conduct that became the subject of federal investigation.

Background#

Public records indicate dela Cruz is of Filipino descent and resided in the New York area while working for Epstein. According to reporting by Rappler, dela Cruz made regular trips to the Philippines, typically traveling with his family in December for month-long vacations that Epstein funded. The archive shows he requested vacation time through Lesley Groff, asking to "take my vacation in December? Leave Dec 12 and come back Jan 12. As usual, we're going to the Philippines and also staying a week in Osaka, Japan". Epstein approved the request through Groff.

In December 2016, Epstein hired household management consultant John Christensen to develop formal training programs for dela Cruz in his role as house manager, including "4 days with Butler for etiquette, serving and valet skills," "3 days with me starting a household manual for the property," and training on "how to catalogue art and valuables, do service and maintenance checklists and how to manage outside vendors." An internal December 2, 2016 staff roster sent to Christensen identified dela Cruz as "House Manager," with other staff including Jojo Fontanilla as "Driver, Server, Butler" and Karyna Shuliak as "Overseer of house staff."

Dela Cruz also functioned as Epstein's bodyguard and driver. In January 2026, photographer Christopher Anderson revealed that after photographing Epstein for a 2015 Vanity Fair profile, Epstein attempted to kill the story and demanded the photos back. Anderson told The Daily Beast: "He sent his bodyguard/driver, Merwin, a massive guy in a long black overcoat and black, leather gloves, to my studio to intimidate me (it worked). Epstein succeeded in threatening the magazine, too, and they killed the story. I cashed the check and Merwin came by again to collect the hard drive and make sure I didn't have any more copies of the photos."

Correspondence with Epstein#

The archive documents extensive daily communication between dela Cruz and Epstein's staff from 2011 through July 2019, with dela Cruz appearing in 11,851 emails as sender or recipient. His correspondence focused primarily on property management, vendor coordination, and maintenance of both the Manhattan townhouse and apartments at 301 East 66th Street.

Dela Cruz reported directly to Epstein and Groff on construction projects and property issues. In April 2019, he updated Epstein: "The painters are finished painting the ceiling and coves and the upholsterer started putting padding on the wall." In June 2019, when Epstein inquired about "Jojo apt noise? Outside door? Stove our?", dela Cruz responded: "AD Winston is coming on Wednesday to see if they can somehow eliminate or dampen the a/c noise, I did not get the chance to work on the lock yet and stove is already out."

He coordinated vendors and contractors throughout the properties, working with Rich Kahn and Karyna Shuliak on renovations and installations. In July 2019, he relayed that contractor "Steve Bastone says his team can go to the house this Friday June 5 (deliver and install) on the 6th floor" and managed the logistics of deliveries and installations at the townhouse.

Dela Cruz received FedEx packages from Epstein's other properties, including shipments from Little St. James island. Staff at the Palm Beach property sent items to the Manhattan townhouse addressed to his attention, including "Bank of America VISA Card" and other materials.

He managed lock installations and security codes for apartments at 301 East 66th Street. In June 2019, he installed a new lock in apartment 10F and reported "The new code is 16822 (she wants it changed)", coordinating with Groff to schedule the installation when the guest occupant would be out.

Connections#

Dela Cruz worked most closely with Lesley Groff, appearing in 4,575 shared emails. Groff served as his primary point of contact with Epstein, transmitting daily schedules, approving time off, and coordinating household operations. He also worked extensively with Jojo Fontanilla (4,111 shared emails), who served as driver and butler, and Karyna Shuliak (1,567 shared emails), who oversaw house staff operations. He coordinated property management and renovation projects with Rich Kahn (1,549 shared emails), Epstein's business manager at HBRK Associates.

Other frequent co-correspondents included Lyn Fontanilla (1,437 shared emails), Bella Klein (1,030 shared emails) who handled financial administration, Sonam Dema (751 shared emails), Larry Visoski (520 shared emails) who piloted Epstein's aircraft, and household staff including Leo Loking, Ann Rodriguez, and Renato Lacson.

Document References#

FBI records document dela Cruz's role in removing items from Epstein's Manhattan residence immediately after his July 6, 2019 arrest. An FBI FD-302 report dated August 20, 2019 states that during execution of a search warrant at 9 East 71st Street on July 11, 2019, agents "observed items missing from within the residence, which were originally located within a safe, during a previous search warrant on 7/06/2019." SA Kelly Maguire contacted Richard Kahn, "who advised that the house manager MERWIN DELACRUZ (DELACRUZ) on 07/07/2019 packed JEFFREY EPSTEIN (EPSTEIN)'s belongings from his safe using one (1) black and one (1) blue suit case and transported the items to KAHN's residence in close proximity to EPSTEIN's residence." The suitcases contained passports (including an Austrian passport and multiple U.S. passports), diamonds, cash in multiple currencies, jewelry, watches, hard drives, and other valuables. The report notes Kahn "advised that he had not opened the suitcases nor knew what their contents were" before turning them over to FBI agents.

Additional DOJ documents show dela Cruz managed deliveries and correspondence related to property maintenance throughout 2017-2019, including coordination of shredder purchases, furniture installations, and cleaning schedules for "girls apartments" at the 301 East 66th Street building.

Visits to Epstein Properties#

The archive documents dela Cruz's daily presence at Epstein's Manhattan townhouse at 9 East 71st Street, where he served as resident house manager from 2011 through July 2019. He also managed apartments at 301 East 66th Street where Epstein housed female assistants and guests.

Manhattan Townhouse (9 East 71st Street): Daily management documented throughout the archive period, including coordination of guest visits, vendor access, construction projects, and household operations. Dela Cruz maintained on-site presence and was responsible for receiving deliveries, managing cleaning staff, overseeing contractors, and reporting property issues to Epstein and Groff.

301 East 66th Street Building: Regular oversight of multiple apartments designated in correspondence as "girls apartments," including units 2G, 7J, 8H, 10B, 10F, 10N, 11B, and 11J. October 2016 emails show he coordinated weekly cleaning schedules for six apartments, with staff instructed that "Jeffrey would like the girls apartments cleaned once a week". He managed apartment assignments for staff and guests, installed security locks with keypad codes, and arranged for cleaning staff to access apartments when occupants were away.

Palm Beach, Little St. James, New Mexico Ranch, Paris: No documented visits in the archive, though he received packages and materials shipped from these properties to the Manhattan locations he managed.

Criminal Activity#

The archive documents conduct that falls within the scope of federal obstruction statutes. On July 7, 2019—one day after Epstein's arrest on federal sex trafficking charges and one day after FBI agents executed a search warrant at 9 East 71st Street—dela Cruz removed items from Epstein's safe and transported them to attorney Richard Kahn's nearby residence. FBI records show agents discovered the items missing during a second search warrant execution on July 11, 2019. The removed materials included passports, diamonds, large amounts of cash, hard drives, and other valuables that would have been subject to seizure under the search warrant. This conduct—removing evidence from a residence under investigation and concealing it at an attorney's home after agents had already searched the safe—falls within the scope of 18 U.S.C. § 1519 (destruction, alteration, or falsification of records in federal investigations) and 18 U.S.C. § 1512 (tampering with evidence in an official proceeding). See Criminal Statutes.

The archive also documents dela Cruz's role managing apartments where young women resided, coordinating cleaning schedules described as "girls apartments", and maintaining security systems including installation of keypad locks with codes that could be monitored and changed. While these property management duties do not themselves constitute criminal conduct, they formed part of the infrastructure that enabled Epstein's trafficking operation.