Paul Lavery

Private investigator based near Miami, Florida, who played a critical role in the removal of evidence from Jeffrey Epstein's Palm Beach mansion. According to a 2005 memo from private investigator William H. Riley to Epstein defense attorney Roy Black, Lavery went to Epstein's home to remove "items of potential evidentiary value" at Black's direction. This occurred less than two weeks before Palm Beach police raided the mansion. Lavery removed more than 100 pieces of potential evidence including three computers (two Dell models and one HP), 29 bound telephone directories, a listing of nearby masseuses, photos of nude females, a Harvard University ID card, a Florida concealed weapons permit, sex toys, and several dozen VHS tapes with titles indicating pornographic content.

Lavery delivered all items to William Riley's office at the Riley & Kiraly firm for "inventory and safekeeping purposes." When later asked about what he removed, Lavery said he "took the items that were given to me" and that he delivered the computers to Riley's office and had "never seen the equipment again." The FBI later identified Lavery as the investigator who physically took the three computers. When police searched Epstein's home, multiple computers were "conspicuously absent," including one linked to the surveillance system. In March 2026, Rep. Robert Garcia sent Lavery a letter requesting voluntary testimony before the House Oversight Committee.