A former United States Department of Defense employee, Samuel Marcus, faces up to 100 years in prison after being accused of laundering millions of dollars for Nigeria-based fraud networks.
Prosecutors said the 33-year-old was charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering, six counts of illegal monetary transactions, and one count of money laundering involving the concealment of illicit proceeds.
It was learnt that the offences occurred between July 2023 and December 2025, while Marcus was employed as a logistics specialist, during which time he allegedly served as a “money mule” for a group of Nigerian-based scammers, in which he received, concealed, and laundered millions of dollars in fraud proceeds.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania announced his arrest on Monday, saying investigators uncovered a sophisticated operation that channelled large sums of fraud proceeds through accounts linked to Marcus.
Investigators said he knowingly worked with scammers using aliases including “Rachel Jude” and “Ned McMurray,” whose network allegedly carried out romance scams, cyber fraud, tax fraud, and business email compromise schemes targeting victims in the United States.
According to the indictment, Marcus allegedly received stolen funds into personal and business bank accounts before transferring the money to accounts controlled by the fraudsters in Nigeria. He is also accused of helping convert the proceeds into cryptocurrency and opening accounts for other collaborators.
Prosecutors further alleged that Marcus continued to conduct the transactions even after Federal Bureau of Investigation agents warned him that the activity was consistent with money laundering.
If convicted on all counts, Marcus could face a maximum sentence of 100 years’ imprisonment, three years of supervised release, and fines of up to $2 million.
