According to court documents, a TD Bank employee in Florida is accused of accepting multiple $200 bribes to move millions of dollars to Colombia.
The criminal complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, comes amid an ongoing Department of Justice investigation into TD’s anti-money laundering practices, which is expected to result in fines of up to $2 billion.
In Hollywood, Florida, former retail banker Gerardo Aquino-Vargas is alleged to have offered criminals a service for sending money to Colombia. Aquino-Vargas allegedly provided at least 28 debit cards to one of the conspirators, accepted $5,600 in bribes, and claimed to have charged lower fees than he would have charged others for the same illegal services.
“Hey, this isn’t a business for me. Honestly, I was hoping to talk you guys for $200 per customer,” Aquino-Vargas told his co-conspirators in Spanish, according to court documents. “Obviously, I gave you 28 cards. I’m not giving you the $200 I’m giving you anymore. With the others, it’s $500 to $800 per account. You know you guys are mine.”
When TD froze some of its debit cards after identifying potentially fraudulent ATM transactions in Colombia, Aquino-Vargas allegedly unfroze two of the cards, according to court documents.
The complaint does not directly name TD, but refers to it as “Financial Institution A, one of the largest consumer banks in the United States.”
TD spokesperson Lisa Hodgins told Banking Dive that the bank “works with law enforcement to help identify, stop and prosecute criminals.”
“When we became aware of these issues, we took action against these employees and have worked collaboratively with the Department of Justice to support their efforts to bring these offenders to justice,” she said. “More broadly, where our programs have not been effective, we are holding these leaders accountable and taking steps to drive change and meet our obligations.”
The Justice Department did not respond to Banking Dive’s request for comment. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, TD’s main U.S. regulator, said it doesn’t comment on specific banks.
The ongoing Justice Department investigation mentioned above stemmed from a 2021 criminal case in which federal prosecutors accused New York City-based Da Ying Ze of orchestrating a scheme to launder at least $653 million in illegal fentanyl proceeds.
During the investigation, Justice Department agents shadowed members of Mr. See’s group, which visited three TD branches in one day, and Justice Department prosecutors allege that Mr. See and his associates gave bank employees at least $57,000 worth of gift cards and other bribes.
“This is unacceptable and we must and will do better,” a TD spokesperson told Banking Dive in early May. “As we’ve previously made public, we have and will continue to work with law enforcement and regulators. A comprehensive effort is underway to strengthen our AML program, including investing in people, tools and technology.”
The bank recently overhauled the leadership of its global and U.S. AML programs, CEO Bharat Masrani told TD employees on April 30.
“In recent weeks, the bank’s U.S. AML program has received significant media attention. As I have communicated, our AML program was not successful and, as a result, criminals were able to penetrate our defenses and use our bank to launder funds,” Masrani said in the memo, shared with Banking Dive by a person close to the bank. “This is completely unacceptable and does not reflect who we are, what our values are, or what our brand stands for.”
“We know what the problem is and we’re solving it. The bank has mobilized all the resources necessary to overhaul its AML program,” Masrani wrote. “We have hired new leadership, engaged hundreds of colleagues, redesigned controls, built new processes, implemented new technology, and implemented improved training.”
The bank also revealed on the same day ahead of the fentanyl report that it would set aside $450 million to cover expected fines from U.S. regulators. The bank revealed:There are additional financial penalties that are “currently unknown and cannot be estimated with any certainty.”
