Paul V. Morris, a private wealth adviser whose name is listed in Department of Justice files connected to Jeffrey Epstein, is no longer with Merrill Lynch, a unit of Bank of America, a company spokesperson said. The spokesperson confirmed Morris has left the firm but declined to provide details on the timing of his departure or to link it to the references to him in the court records.
According to Morris’s LinkedIn profile, he joined Merrill in August 2016 and led a team identified as the Morris Group within Merrill Private Wealth Management. Department of Justice documents show his name appears multiple times in the files related to Epstein, including an entry that lists him as part of a JPMorgan team that approved Epstein as a client in 2011.
The DoJ files indicate that while Morris was at Merrill he was in contact with Epstein’s assistant and with the financier’s accountant between 2017 and 2018. The documents also note prior positions Morris held at JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank.
A person familiar with the matter told reporters that Jeffrey Epstein was not a client of Merrill Lynch. The company spokesperson declined to comment on whether Morris’s departure had any connection to the references in the DoJ material.
Attempts to reach Morris by telephone were unsuccessful. He did not immediately respond to messages left on LinkedIn or to an email sent to his Merrill Lynch account, according to the reporting.
Context and institutional scrutiny
Public reporting has indicated that Morris consulted with Epstein repeatedly after joining Bank of America, and his LinkedIn profile identifies him as head of a group within Merrill’s private wealth unit. The presence of his name in the DoJ files has occurred as broader attention has centered on the relationships between major financial institutions and Epstein.
The files and prior reporting describe continued business links between Epstein and several major banks over the years. One DoJ entry cites Morris as a member of a team at JPMorgan that approved Epstein as a client in 2011. Separate reporting has indicated that JPMorgan bankers met with Epstein even after the bank decided in 2013 to close his accounts. Department of Justice records also show that Deutsche Bank continued to provide services to Epstein after notifying him in late 2018 of its intent to end the relationship, with ties only fully severed following his arrest in July 2019.
Legal actions remain pending against several institutions. JPMorgan faces lawsuits from women who say they were sexually abused by Epstein, as well as litigation brought by the U.S. Virgin Islands, where Epstein maintained a residence. Those legal matters are noted in relation to the broader scrutiny on banks’ handling of Epstein-related accounts and relationships.
Personnel and firm statements
A company spokesperson confirmed Morris’s departure but did not say when he left the firm. The spokesperson also declined to say whether the departure was tied to references to Morris that appear in the DoJ documents. Beyond the confirmation of his exit, Merrill Lynch provided no additional comment for this report.
Morris’s career history shown on LinkedIn lists prior roles at both JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank. The DOJ files cite his involvement in client-related activity across those employers during the years referenced.
What remains unclear
The timing of Morris’s exit from Merrill and any internal findings or investigations that might have preceded it have not been disclosed by the company. The spokesperson would not specify whether Morris resigned, was terminated, or left under other circumstances. The public record reflected in the DoJ documents identifies communications between Morris and associates of Epstein during 2017 and 2018, but does not state the nature of any subsequent internal actions taken by Morris’s employer.
As questions about institutional ties to Epstein continue to surface, financial firms and regulators may face continued scrutiny. For now, the firm has only confirmed Morris’s departure without providing further detail.