Texas Man and his Romantic Partner Plead Guilty to their Roles in Harming Elderly Victims Through a Romance Fraud Scam

CAMDEN, N.J. – A Texas man admitted his role in a romance fraud scam in which he received money from elderly victims, including from New Jersey, and then transferred the money abroad, primarily to Ghana. His romantic partner admitted that she had served as an unlicensed money transmitter in accepting and transmitting some of the funds for profit, U.S. Attorney Alina Habba announced.

Felix Clark, a/k/a “Joseph Moore,” a/k/a “Stanley Smith,” 36, of Keller, Texas, pleaded guilty on May 6, 2025, before the Hon. Renée Marie Bumb, Chief, U.S. District Judge, Camden, to a two-count information, charging conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud in connection with the romance fraud scam. Clark’s sentencing is scheduled for September 10, 2025.

Clark’s romantic partner, Esther Amppiaw, 33, of Keller, Texas, pleaded guilty on May 23, 2025, before the Hon. Renée Marie Bumb, Chief, U.S. District Judge, Camden, to a one-count information charging her with operating an unlicensed money transmitter business. Amppiaw’s sentencing is scheduled for September 23, 2025.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

From June 2022 through September 2022, while a resident of Delray Beach, Florida, Clark conspired and agreed to receive the proceeds of fraud perpetrated by a co-conspirator in Ghana and then to transfer those proceeds overseas.  Over the course of the conspiracy, one or more of Clark’s co-conspirators went onto online dating sites and, using fake names, pretended to be romantically interested in mostly elderly victims, including stating that they wanted to marry the victims. Many of the victims, including Victim-1 (an elderly New Jersey-based victim) had recently lost their spouses.

The co-conspirators used electronic means to tell the victims a variety of lies to induce the victims to send money—for instance, claiming that there was a large amount of gold in Ghana, but in order to gain access, the victim needed to pay taxes, fees, or other sums. The co-conspirators directed the victims to send funds to Clark and others acting at his direction, including Amppiaw. Clark used fake names, including “Joseph Moore” and “Stanley Smith”—as well as financial accounts in those fake names—to commit and transfer the proceeds of fraud.

During his guilty plea hearing, Clark admitted that he was responsible for $501,071 in victim losses. He also admitted that he had attempted to obstruct justice by causing a falsified death certificate and funeral notice purporting to show the death and funeral of a family member to be submitted to the United States, for the purpose of obtaining his passport, which had been lawfully seized and to which he was not legally entitled.

Amppiaw admitted that she operated an unlicensed money transmitting business from January 2022 through June 2023, while a resident of Delray Beach, Florida. Amppiaw also admitted that she knowingly received checks, money orders, and electronic payments totaling $317,290 from individuals she did not know, and that she knowingly transmitted most of the funds to other individuals, including at least one recipient in New Jersey and also to recipients overseas, including Ghana. Amppiaw admitted that she now knows that the funds she transferred included the proceeds of unlawful activity—that is, fraud.

The counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud to which Clark pled guilty are each punishable by a maximum of 20 years in prison. The sentences on each count may run consecutively. The count of operating an unlicensed money transmitter business to which Amppiaw pled guilty is punishable by a maximum of five years in prison. Each offense also carries a potential fine of the greater of $250,000,or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense, and the defendants may be sentenced to a term of supervised release after any term of imprisonment imposed.

U.S. Attorney Habba credited agents of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division, South Jersey Resident Agency, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Wayne A. Jacobs, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Philadelphia Division, under the direction of Inspector in Charge Christopher Nielsen, with the investigation leading to the guilty pleas.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Elisa T. Wiygul of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Camden.

                                                                       ###                               

Defense Counsel:

Felix Clark: Jeremy McLymont, Esq., Miami, Florida

Esther Amppiaw: James Maguire, Esq., AFPD, Camden, New Jersey