Criminal Division Cases

On October 10, 2024, the Department of Justice announced that TD Bank US Holding Company (TDBUSH) pleaded guilty to causing TDBNA to fail to maintain an AML program that complies with the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and failing to file accurate Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs). TDBUSH’s direct subsidiary, TD Bank, N.A. (together with TDBUSH, “TD Bank”), the 10th largest bank in the United States, simultaneously pleaded guilty to related charges. Between January 2014 and October 2023, TD Bank failed to update its anti-money laundering compliance program to address known risks. Instead, senior executives at TD Bank prioritized adhering to the bank’s “flat cost paradigm” and creating a convenient “customer experience” over maintaining an adequate AML program. From 2014 through 2022, TD Bank failed to add any new scenarios to its transaction monitoring program despite known deficiencies, emerging money laundering risks, and the introduction of new products and services. Throughout this time, TD Bank intentionally excluded all domestic automated clearinghouse (ACH) transactions, most check activity, and numerous other transaction types from its automated transaction monitoring system, resulting in 92% of total transaction volume going unmonitored from Jan. 1, 2018, to April 12, 2024. This monitoring gap amounted to approximately $18.3 trillion in transaction activity. TD Bank’s failures enabled three money laundering networks, one of which was assisted by five TD Bank employees, to collectively transfer more than $670 million through TD Bank accounts between 2019 and 2023. As part of its plea agreement, TD Bank will pay a combined $1.8 billion in penalties, enhance and remediate its AML compliance program, and retain an independent monitor. This is the Department’s largest penalty ever imposed under the BSA and the first time a national bank has pleaded guilty to conspiring to launder money. This prosecution was led by the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey.