PHILADELPHIA, PA — An Oreland man who prosecutors say laundered millions of dollars for a Nigeria-based fraud network after initially becoming one of its victims has pleaded guilty to a federal money laundering charge, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania announced.
Samuel D. Marcus, 33, entered a guilty plea Monday before U.S. District Judge Joel H. Slomsky to one count of concealment money laundering. Prosecutors alleged Marcus received, concealed, and transferred proceeds from multiple fraud schemes while employed as a logistics specialist with the U.S. Department of Defense.
According to court filings, Marcus was first targeted in a romance fraud scheme in late 2022 and early 2023 before knowingly joining the same organization as a money mule.
Federal prosecutors alleged that from July 2023 through December 2025, Marcus remained in regular contact with members of the Nigeria-based operation, who used aliases including “Rachel Jude” and “Ned McMurray.” The group allegedly carried out romance, cyber, tax, financing, and business email compromise scams that cost U.S. victims millions of dollars.
According to the government, Marcus accepted fraud proceeds into personal and business bank accounts before rapidly converting the money into cryptocurrency and transferring it to foreign accounts at the direction of the fraudsters.
Prosecutors also alleged Marcus continued laundering funds after FBI agents warned him the money moving through his accounts had been stolen and that his financial activity was consistent with money laundering.
Court filings further allege Marcus attempted to conceal the activity by misleading banks and investigators and submitting fraudulent invoices to make the transactions appear legitimate.
Marcus is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 16. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.
The FBI Philadelphia Field Office’s Fort Washington Resident Agency investigated the case with assistance from Homeland Security Investigations and the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General’s Defense Criminal Investigative Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Samuel S. Dalke is prosecuting the case.
Marcus is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 16. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.
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