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An executive at banking giant TD Bank is pleading guilty to helping criminals launder hundreds of millions of dollars.
The Department of Justice says 47-year-old Wilfredo Aquino has admitted to helping criminals launder cash by leveraging his position as an assistant store manager at TD Bank.
Court filings show that between 2019 and 2021, Aquino aided the criminal organization run by Da Ying Sze to move the funds by processing about 1,680 official bank checks for them.
However, since each check exceeded the $10,000 limit, an automatic review of the funds called a ‘currency transaction report’ was triggered.
Though Aquino knew of this process and that TD Bank had previously closed accounts linked to Ying Sze for suspicious activity, he failed to name Ying Sze, also known as ‘David,’ as the conductor of the transactions on the reports, thus concealing his role in the scheme.
For his role in the plot, Aquino received gift cards from David totaling over $11,000. He faces up to 20 years behind bars.
Says Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva,
“The defendant leveraged his position at TD Bank and facilitated the criminal activity of a money laundering network that moved hundreds of millions of dollars through the bank’s accounts.
During the illicit scheme, the defendant evaded reporting requirements to hide the identity of the leader of the money laundering network.”
