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    • TD Bank, Cherry Hill, charged with money laundering
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    TD Bank, Cherry Hill, charged with money laundering

    Caradoc Wyn Posted on

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    According to the U.S. Department of Justice, TD Bank NA valued convenience for its customers, even if they were drug dealers.

    The Cherry Hill-based company is “the bank of choice for several money laundering organizations and criminal actors,” the agency said in announcing more than $1.8 billion in penalties for the company. The penalties are part of a plea agreement that resolves a federal investigation into TD Bank’s practices.

    A statement from TD Bank said total spending would exceed $3 billion for the company, which would also need to improve its current anti-money laundering activities. There will also be a stricter approval process for new products, businesses, services and markets.

    Aftermath of the collapse of the Republic: Job cuts planned at South Jersey bank branch

    “TD has the financial strength, stability and operational flexibility to implement the required (anti-money laundering) recovery program in the US, continue to meet the financial needs of its more than ten million US customers and invest in strengthening the business “ said the statement said.

    TD Bank Group CEO Bharat Masrani described this as a difficult chapter in the bank’s history.

    “These errors occurred under my watch as CEO and I apologize to all of our stakeholders,” he said.

    Garland: TD Bank became a criminal

    Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a statement Thursday that TD Bank became a criminal by making its services convenient for criminals.

    He added that TD Bank “also became the largest bank in U.S. history to plead guilty to violations of the Bank Secrecy Act program and the first U.S. bank in history to plead guilty to money laundering conspiracy.” pleaded guilty.”

    The bank’s practices benefited criminals, including international drug traffickers, who laundered hundreds of millions of dollars, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey.

    It said two of the networks were prosecuted in New Jersey, including “one that dumped piles of cash on bank counters and another that allegedly withdrew amounts from ATMs that were 40 to 50 times higher than the daily limit.” for private accounts.”

    TD Bank’s lax procedures also allowed three money laundering networks to collectively transfer more than $670 million through its accounts between 2019 and 2023.

    The operators of a money laundering scheme processed more than $470 million through cash deposits between January 2018 and February 2021, the statement said.

    It said operators provided more than $57,000 worth of gift cards “to ensure employees continue to process their transactions.”

    It was alleged that five TD Bank employees issued dozens of ATM cards to support another network that deposited money in the United States and quickly withdrew the cash from ATMs in Colombia. Ultimately, the bank employees participated in the laundering of approximately $39 million.

    Federal regulators and the bank’s internal audit group have “consistently raised concerns about its transaction monitoring program over the past decade,” the statement added.

    TD Bank “Prioritized Profits Over Compliance”

    The weak policies reflected cost control practices aimed at increasing profits, Garland said.

    He added that TD Bank “placed profit over compliance with the law – a decision that is now costing the bank billions of dollars in penalties.”

    The Justice Department said TD Bank failed to address “long-term, widespread and systemic deficiencies” in its anti-money laundering program between January 2014 and October 2023.

    “During this time, TD Bank intentionally failed to automatically monitor all domestic automated clearinghouse transactions, most check activity, and numerous other types of transactions,” the statement said.

    This resulted in 92% of the total transaction volume – approximately $18.3 trillion – going unmonitored from January 2018 to early April 2024.

    Among other things, it said TD Bank failed to “meaningly monitor transactions involving high-risk countries” and “instructed stores to stop filing internal reports on unusual transactions with certain suspicious customers.”

    More than two dozen people have been charged in connection with the alleged schemes, including two bank insiders, the statement said.

    Under the agreement, TD Bank must forfeit $452.4 million and pay a $1.88 billion penalty. The criminal sanction reflects a 20% reduction for the bank’s “partial cooperation and remediation.”

    The Justice Department said TD Bank did not receive full credit “because it failed to timely escalate relevant AML concerns … during the investigation.”

    In addition, the bank will appoint an independent compliance monitor for three years and improve its anti-money laundering compliance program.

    The bank and its parent company, TD Bank US Holding Co., admitted guilt in federal court in Newark on Thursday for conspiring to fail to maintain an anti-money laundering program that complied with the Bank Secrecy Act.

    The company also admitted failing to file accurate currency transaction reports and laundering money.

    The pleas were part of a coordinated resolution with the Federal Reserve System, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

    Jim Walsh is a senior reporter for the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal. Email: [email protected].

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    Caradoc Wyn
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