February 09, 2026
Brad Nading/Imagn Images
Samuel D. Marcus of Oreland allegedly helped Nigerian scammers launder stolen money while he was employed as a logistics specialist for the Department of Defense.
A Montgomery County man laundered millions of dollars for a ring of Nigerian scammers and pocketed some of the stolen funds himself, federal prosecutors say.
Samuel D. Marcus, 33, was indicted in late January for his alleged role in numerous wire fraud schemes. According to court documents, he acted as a money mule for con artists in Nigeria who used aliases including "Rachel Jude" and "Ned McMurray." Marcus allegedly opened numerous bank accounts to accept wire transfers from victims, converted the funds into cryptocurrency and moved them into foreign accounts to "conceal the true ownership and control of the proceeds, and obscure the source of the funds." He kept small portions of the money as payment, the indictment claims.
The crimes occurred between July 2023 and December 2025, when Marcus was a logistics specialist for the Department of Defense. According to his LinkedIn page, he had worked for a support agency within the department since his graduation from Temple University in 2019.
The indictment alleges that Marcus continued to aid the scammers even after the FBI informed him that the money he was handling was "stolen from other people." The network obtained the funds through a variety of schemes, court documents say, including romance fraud, tax fraud, cyber fraud, financing fraud and business email compromise operations.
Prosecutors claim Marcus received and deposited wire transfers of up to $200,000 at at time. Victims allegedly lost "millions" in the process.
Marcus faces a maximum sentences of 100 years in prison and a $2 million fine. The Oreland man pleaded not guilty Monday.
Follow Kristin & PhillyVoice on Twitter: @kristin_hunt
| @thePhillyVoice
Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice
Have a news tip? Let us know.
