U.S. Department of Justice obtains guilty plea from former TD Bank employee for facilitating laundering of about USD 474 million through bank accounts

The U.S. Department of Justice announced that Wilfredo Aquino, a former TD Bank N.A. assistant store manager in New York, pleaded guilty to a money laundering conspiracy for helping a laundering network move hundreds of millions of dollars through TD Bank accounts and evade bank reporting requirements. Court filings describe conduct from 2019 to February 2021 in which the network led by Da Ying Sze moved approximately USD 474 million through TD Bank accounts via cash deposits at bank stores in New York, New Jersey, and elsewhere, with the largest volume routed through Aquino’s Midtown Manhattan store. Aquino processed about 1,680 official bank checks totaling more than USD 92 million, frequently funded by cash deposits above USD 10,000 that triggered Currency Transaction Report (CTR) filings, but he did not identify Sze as the “conductor” on the CTRs; he also facilitated nearly USD 2 million in cash transactions through a third party’s account in February 2021 without reporting Sze as the conductor. Aquino accepted retail gift cards totaling over USD 11,000 in exchange, and the charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years’ imprisonment and a fine of USD 500,000 or twice the amount involved, whichever is greater. Sentencing is scheduled for May 12.