TD Banker Admits Laundering US$4.8 Million to Colombia

COLOMBIA · MONEY LAUNDERING

A Florida bank insider sold access to US banking for a sliver of the money he helped send to Colombia.

A former TD Bank employee has pleaded guilty to taking bribes and helping launder about US$4.8 million to Colombia. Gerardo Aquino, 40, of Hollywood, Florida, entered his plea on Tuesday, 6 October, in federal court in Newark, New Jersey.

The case shows how illicit money can leave the United States through an ordinary bank branch. It also adds to the record of TD Bank, the US arm of Canada’s Toronto-Dominion Bank, which admitted anti-money-laundering failures in 2024.

How the TD Bank Employee Ran the Scheme

From April 2022 to November 2023, Aquino opened fraudulent accounts and issued hundreds of debit cards to co-conspirators, prosecutors said. He also unblocked debit cards that TD Bank had restricted because of potential fraud.

He opened 86 individual customer accounts that all used the same commercial address in Miami. Those accounts alone were used to launder more than US$3 million in illicit funds to Colombia, according to court filings.

In return, the TD Bank employee received more than US$8,000 in bribes, paid in cash and through a peer-to-peer digital payment network. Measured against US$4.8 million, US$8,000 is about one sixth of one per cent.

Robert Frazer, the US Attorney for New Jersey, said Aquino had enabled crime instead of preventing it. He said Aquino gave “malevolent actors” a “soft entry point” into US banking.

The Colombian Side of the Case

Prosecutors say the accounts and cards funnelled the money out of the United States to Colombia. They name no recipient there and no criminal organisation.

When Aquino was first charged in 2024, under the name Gerardo Aquino Vargas, the complaint described a Colombian national as one co-conspirator. That detail was reported in June 2024 by Banking Dive, a US trade publication.

The same report said TD Bank froze some of his cards after spotting potentially fraudulent ATM transactions in Colombia.

The method matches the bank’s wider case. In 2024 the Justice Department described a network that deposited cash in the United States and withdrew it from Colombian ATMs.

Five TD Bank employees issued dozens of ATM cards to that network, the department said then. It did not say whether Aquino was among them.

What Aquino Faces in Court

Aquino pleaded guilty before US District Judge Esther Salas to a two-count information, a charging document filed by prosecutors. The counts are conspiracy to launder monetary instruments and receipt of bribes by a bank employee.

The laundering count carries up to 20 years in prison and a fine of US$500,000 or twice the sum involved. The bribery count carries up to 30 years and a fine of US$1 million or three times the sum involved.

Those are statutory maximums, and federal judges usually impose far less under sentencing guidelines.

The New Jersey US Attorney’s Office prosecutes the case with the Bank Integrity Unit, which pursues banks and bank staff. IRS Criminal Investigation and the inspector general of the US deposit insurer FDIC investigated, with help from police in Morristown, New Jersey.

Greg Millard, associate chief of operations at the Drug Enforcement Administration, also commented. He said corrupt insiders “are just as critical to criminal networks as those who move drugs.”

What It Means for You

For investors, the plea concerns one former employee, and the Justice Department announced no new penalty against the bank. Toronto-Dominion shares trade on the New York and Toronto stock exchanges under the ticker TD.

The bank’s 2024 resolution still frames the risk. TD Bank agreed to forfeit about US$452 million and pay a criminal fine of about US$1.43 billion, a total near US$1.89 billion.

It also agreed to keep an independent compliance monitor for three years. Each insider case adds detail on how its controls failed.

For US policy, the case shows the Criminal Division now treats bank insiders as core targets. Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva said such insiders “will be investigated and prosecuted.”

Legal remittances to Colombia are not affected. But lending your name, address or debit card to someone else’s account can bring federal charges.

What Is Not Known

Prosecutors call the money illicit funds but do not say which crime, such as drug sales, produced it.

It is not known who controlled the accounts, whether co-conspirators were charged, or whether Colombian authorities are involved. No forfeiture amount or cooperation deal was announced.

What Comes Next

Judge Salas is scheduled to sentence Aquino on Tuesday, 23 March 2027, in Newark.

The plea does not mean new charges against TD Bank itself. Nor does it accuse any Colombian bank, official or government body of wrongdoing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Gerardo Aquino?

He is a 40-year-old former TD Bank employee from Hollywood, Florida. He pleaded guilty on 6 October to laundering conspiracy and taking bribes as a bank employee.

How much money went to Colombia?

US prosecutors say about US$4.8 million left the United States through the accounts and cards he handled. More than US$3 million of that passed through 86 accounts registered at one Miami address.

What is TD Bank?

TD Bank is the US retail banking arm of the Canadian lender Toronto-Dominion Bank. In 2024 it pleaded guilty to anti-money-laundering failures and agreed to pay about US$1.89 billion to the Justice Department.

How long could he spend in prison?

The two counts carry statutory maximums of 20 and 30 years. Actual federal sentences are usually much lower and depend on sentencing guidelines.

Sources: US Attorney’s Office, District of New Jersey (6 October 2026); US Department of Justice, TD Bank plea (10 October 2024); TD Bank Group, share information; Banking Dive (June 2024); Latinus (all accessed 7 October 2026).