TD Bank Enabled Drug Traffickers, Will Pay $3B Fine: Feds

NEW JERSEY — New Jersey-based TD Bank has agreed to a $3 billion fine after pleading guilty in a "staggering" money laundering scheme that funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars to drug cartels, the Department of Justice said.

Philip Sellinger, the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, and other DOJ representatives said that for more than a decade, TD Bank failed to meet its responsibilities under the federal Bank Secrecy Act, which requires financial institutions to report suspicious activity that may be linked to money laundering.

The deficiencies in TD Bank's anti-money laundering compliance program "allowed criminal proceeds to flow" through the bank to cartels in Colombia, Sellinger said.

Some bank tellers accepted gift cards as bribes in exchange for filing false or misleading reports on certain transactions, according to Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo.

"The bank enabled drug trafficking," Adeyemo said.

In one case, he said, TD Bank "facilitated over $400 million in transactions to launder money on behalf of criminals that were selling fentanyl and other deadly drugs that are poisoning our neighborhoods."

The bank also "failed to detect the suspicious activities of one of its own employees who was accepting bribes in exchange for opening accounts in the name of shell companies," Adeyemo said on Thursday.

The bank also agreed to a four-year monitor to oversee "extensive remedial measures," including reviewing its anti-money laundering compliance program, according to federal officials.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency also issued a cease and desist order against TD Bank on Thursday, and levied a $450 million civil money penalty against the Cherry Hill-based company.