TD Bank fined $3 billion for money laundering

WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – The Justice Department announced that TD Bank has pleaded guilty and will pay $3 billion to settle charges related to drug cartel money laundering.

US Attorney General Merrick Garland took the stage on Thursday to announce the enormous fine.

“The United States will impose a total of approximately $3 billion on TD Bank,” Garland said. “By making its services easy for criminals, it became one.”

The DOJ says TD Bank failed to monitor more than $18 trillion in customer activity over a six-year period. This allowed three money laundering networks to transfer hundreds of millions of dollars

“TD Bank created an environment where financial crime could flourish,” Garland said.

Garland says employees were well aware of the flaws in TD Bank’s anti-money laundering systems because people were taking advantage of them.

“In August 2020, a TD Bank store manager emailed another store manager and commented, quoting, ‘You guys really need to shut this down lol,” Garland said.

The DOJ says some employees also conspired with criminal organizations.

“To open and maintain accounts at the bank that were used to launder $39 million to Colombia, including drug proceeds,” Garland said.

TD Bank is cooperating with the DOJ and in a statement its CEO, Bharat Masrani, said, “This is a difficult chapter in our bank’s history.” He went on to say, “The board has and continues to take action to address these failures and hold those responsible accountable.”

Garland says there is potential for future cases against specific individuals.