Former TD employee pleads guilty to facilitating money-laundering scheme

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A former Toronto-Dominion Bank TD-T employee based in New York has pleaded guilty to shuffling hundreds of millions of dollars for a money-laundering network through the bank’s accounts.

The charge is the latest in an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice and regulators into TD’s role in moving hundreds of millions of dollars in drug proceeds. Wilfredo Aquino, a 47-year-old who formerly worked as an assistant manager at a TD branch in Midtown Manhattan, pleaded guilty to conspiring to launder monetary instruments.

Between 2019 and February, 2021, Mr. Aquino helped the leader of a money-laundering network, Da Ying Sze, also known as David, launder the majority of the network’s cash through the TD branch where he worked, according to allegations in court filings.

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Mr. Aquino processed more than 1,600 cheques for Mr. Sze’s network, totalling more than US$92-million, U.S. prosecutors alleged. Almost all of the cheques exceeded US$10,000, which requires a bank to file a currency transaction report for a suspicious or large transaction.

“Nobody processed more transactions for David’s Network at the Midtown Manhattan store than Aquino,” the U.S. Department of Justice said in a press release Tuesday.

In October, 2024, TD pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering and agreed to pay more than US$3-billion in penalties and accept several strict requirements set by U.S. regulators and law enforcement agencies.

Mr. Sze pleaded guilty in 2022 to co-ordinating a US$653-million money-laundering conspiracy, much of it through the bank’s branches in New York over a three-year period. He repeatedly deposited large amounts of cash into accounts opened by other people, asking bank employees to issue cheques and send wires.

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TD presented a turnaround plan last September aimed at reviving its share price, growing its businesses and renewing its culture. As part of its remediation efforts to fix its anti-money-laundering gaps, the bank also hired hundreds of new financial crimes and compliance employees.

“We are actively cooperating with law enforcement to support their investigation and bring those who violated the law to justice,” TD spokesperson Elizabeth Goldenshtein said Wednesday, in an e-mailed statement. “As communicated previously, TD is driving a comprehensive effort, and making strong progress, to strengthen its AML program, with important investments in talent, training, process improvements and technology.”

Mr. Sze had Mr. Aquino’s phone number saved in his phone contacts as “Td Wilfredo Broadway,” and the two periodically sent each other text messages about Mr. Sze’s account activity, according to court filings.

At the TD branch, Mr. Aquino did not identify Mr. Sze as the person conducting the deposit or transfer in currency transaction reports, as required, even though he knew TD had closed other accounts linked to the leader of the network for suspicious activity.

When depositing money for Mr. Sze, Mr. Aquino repeatedly accepted a digital photo of the absent nominee account holder’s identification instead of requiring Mr. Sze to present his own identification, which is required by law and the bank’s policies, court filings said.

In 2020, after an outgoing US$200,000 wire transfer was flagged for review, Mr. Aquino received an e-mail from a colleague in which a co-worker wrote, “You guys really need to shut this down LOL.”

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About a month later, a TD fraud specialist told Mr. Aquino in an e-mail that Mr. Sze’s activity “looks like money laundering” and said the bank “cannot encourage the way they are conducting business.” Mr. Aquino agreed to ensure Mr. Sze was following the bank’s policies, but the network continued its typical process of depositing and moving money.

In the court filings, photos from TD surveillance video footage in 2021 show Mr. Aquino processing a large cash transaction for Mr. Sze, who later passes the former bank employee a stack of retail gift cards as compensation.

“Wilfredo Aquino’s position at TD Bank required him to report suspicious customer activity and adhere to robust anti-money laundering regulations,” said Special Agent in Charge Jenifer Piovesan of the IRS Criminal Investigation Newark Field Office, in a statement.

“Instead, he turned a blind eye to complying with the law and prioritized enriching himself.”

Mr. Aquino accepted numerous retail gift cards from Mr. Sze totalling more than US$11,000, court filings said.

Mr. Aquino is scheduled to be sentenced on May 12.