TD Bank Is Paying $3B in Fines for Money Laundering Schemes

TD Bank, one of the 10 largest banks in the U.S., has admitted to a conspiracy to commit money laundering and is now facing $3 billion in fines. The bank has allegedly failed to enforce its anti-money laundering policy for years, easily allowing criminals to move money without oversight.

According to the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ), three money laundering schemes passed more than $670 million through the bank between 2019 and 2023. Bank employees received gift cards worth over $57,000 from the criminals in exchange for letting the transactions through.

“Today, TD Bank also became the largest bank in U.S. history to plead guilty to Bank Secrecy Act program failures, and the first U.S. bank in history to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering,” said U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland. “TD Bank chose profits over compliance with the law — a decision that is now costing the bank billions of dollars in penalties.”

Garland noted that employees often joked about the money laundering allowed within the bank. Even upper management knew of the potential criminal activity taking place but did little to stop it.

Prior to the government’s intervention, nearly $18.3 trillion in customer activity reportedly went completely unnoticed. Now, however, TD Bank is actively working on changing things, including replacing leadership and bringing on specialists.

“We know what the issues are, we are fixing them. As we move forward, we’re ensuring that this never happens again,” said TD Bank Group CEO Bharat Masrani, as reported by NPR. “And I’m 100% confident that we get to the other side and emerge even stronger.”

TD Bank’s Money Laundering Activity

Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo called TD Bank’s ongoing neglect “fertile ground” for funding illegal activities like drug and human trafficking. The bank’s policies were so lax, it’s reported that one person was able to move $470 million of illegal cash through TD branches, even depositing over $1 million “more than once” and withdrawing it via checks and wire transfer on the same day. While bank employees did act concerned, they let the transactions happen, nonetheless.

In another case, criminal groups were able to transfer $39 million to Colombia using several TD Bank accounts. To open the accounts, the schemers used the same Venezuelan passport for identification, which went unnoticed until one bank employee was arrested in connection with the conspiracy.

The DOJ’s investigation is still open, and TD Bank is fully cooperating. So far, about two dozen people, which includes two bank employees, have been prosecuted for their roles in the money laundering schemes.

Another financial conglomerate, Citigroup, got in trouble with U.S. regulators earlier this year. The banking giant was fined $136 million for failures related to risk management.