The 10th-largest bank in the US is preparing to pay a $3.1 billion fine after becoming the first in American history to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering.
TD Bank’s American-based unit has also admitted to violating the Bank Secrecy Act, and will hand $1.8 billion to the Department of Justice and $1.3 billion to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).
Prosecutors say the bank failed to properly track trillions of dollars in transactions, making it easy for drug traffickers and other criminals to move huge sums of cash to notoriously risky countries.
In some cases, even TD Bank employees helped criminals move money, accepting gifts in return for their cooperation.
Despite being warned by their own staff and regulators about the issues, the bank didn’t fix its procedures for years.
US Attorney Philip R. Sellinger for the District of New Jersey says the problems were so egregious, criminals were allowed to dump piles of cash onto the banks’ counters in broad daylight.
“As a result of staggering and pervasive failures in oversight, it willfully failed to monitor trillions of dollars of transactions – including those involving ACH transactions, checks, high-risk countries, and peer-to-peer transactions – which allowed hundreds of millions of dollars from money laundering networks to flow through the bank, including for international drug traffickers.
The bank was aware of these risks and failed to take steps to protect against them, including for two networks prosecuted in New Jersey and elsewhere – one that dumped piles of cash on the bank’s counters and another that allegedly withdrew amounts from ATMs 40 to 50 times higher than the daily limit for personal accounts.”
Attorney General Merrick Garland says the investigation not over yet.
“By making its services convenient for criminals, TD Bank became one…
TD Bank chose profits over compliance with the law — a decision that is now costing the bank billions of dollars in penalties. Let me be clear: our investigation continues, and no individual involved in TD Bank’s illegal conduct is off limits.”
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