House manager and caretaker for Jeffrey Epstein at his Manhattan townhouse at 9 East 71st Street. During the FBI search of Epstein's New York residence, Special Agent Kelly Maguire identified Merwin de la Cruz through a maintenance sheet taped inside a computer cabinet found during the investigation. When agents spoke with de la Cruz, they learned that accountant Richard Kahn had entered the property between the time agents left to obtain a search warrant and their return, removing items from the safe including binders with CDs, jewelry, external hard drives, and loose diamonds.
In July 2015, de la Cruz thanked Epstein for funding his vacation trip to and from the Philippines, indicating Epstein subsidized staff travel expenses. His name appeared in the transcript of the Ghislaine Maxwell trial, where FBI evidence was discussed in relation to the New York residence. He is a Philippine national who appeared in Rappler reporting on Epstein's operational funding of employees' flights to the Philippines.