TD Bank Reached $3 Billion Settlement in October, but Consequences for Bankers Implicated in Money Laundering Scheme are Unresolved; New Letter Seeks Records to Uncover Who at TD Bank Was Involved, When the Scheme Was Identified, and Why Compliance Protocols Failed
Washington, D.C. – Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., sent a letter on Monday to TD Bank Group President Bharat Masrani seeking information related to the bank’s involvement in a criminal conspiracy involving a scheme to launder nearly $500 million from the sale of illicit fentanyl trafficked by Chinese drug syndicates into the United States. The case was part of the bank’s recent $3 billion settlement with the Justice and Treasury Departments. Noting that no bank executives had faced any apparent consequences to date for their roles in the scheme, the senators’ letter requests company documents and information to clarify the extent to which TD Bank employees were involved and who was responsible for the bank’s compliance failures.
“According to federal court records, between 2018 and 2021 TD Bank employees helped a network led by Da Ying Sze launder approximately $474 million in cash from illicit sales of fentanyl and other narcotics through TD Bank branches … The Sze network’s fentanyl money laundering scheme was done with the knowledge and participation of TD Bank employees,” Wyden and Warren wrote. “Unfortunately, it is unclear what consequences, if any, TD Bank executives faced for enabling this massive fentanyl money laundering scheme. TD Bank’s conduct endangered American lives and helped dangerous criminals from China and elsewhere expand their fentanyl trafficking operations in the U.S. The fentanyl crisis in America has already resulted in 100,000 deaths since 2002, and immediate action is needed to prevent traffickers from using the U.S. banking system to launder profits from the sale of this deadly poison. This includes swift action to hold bankers accountable, including criminal prosecution and sanctions.”
The full text of the letter can be found here. The questions posed in the letter follow below:
- When did TD Bank first become aware that cash being deposited by the Sze network at TD Bank stores in the U.S. were proceeds from illegal fentanyl sales in the U.S.?
- Did TD Bank ever conduct any internal due diligence or investigation to determine whether cash being deposited at TD Bank by the Sze network had links to the trafficking of fentanyl and other illegal narcotics? If so, please provide all documents related to that review.
- Did TD Bank ever conduct any internal due diligence or investigation to determine whether the Sze network had links to organized crime or drug trafficking organizations in China or elsewhere? If so, please provide all documents related to that review.
- Please provide copies of all unusual transaction referrals (“UTR”) that were filed by TD bank employees for accounts related to the money laundering network operated by Da Ying Ze and his co-conspirators (collectively, “the Sze network”).
- Please provide a detailed list of all cash deposits, official bank check and wire transfer transactions for accounts related to the Sze network. For each transaction, please provide the date of the transaction, the dollar value, and the names of the TD bank employees who processed the transaction. For outbound wire transfers please also include the name of the individual or entity that the funds were sent to, the financial institution to which the funds were sent and the city/country where the funds were sent.
- Please provide a list of all wire transfers by the Sze network from accounts at TD Bank to accounts in China and Hong Kong. Please include the names of the recipient individuals and entities as well as the financial institutions to which the funds were sent.
- Please provide copies of all electronic correspondence concerning accounts related to the Sze network sent or received by TD Bank employees from the following groups at TD Bank: The U.S. Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), Global Anti-Money Laundering (GAML), Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), AML operations.
- Please provide copies of all electronic correspondence related to the Sze network’s accounts sent or received by individuals who held at least one the following positions at TD Bank: BSA Officer, Deputy Global Head of AML Compliance, Global Head of AML Compliance, Vice President of AML operations, Head of U.S. Financial Intelligence Unit, and Chief AML Officer.
- According to court records, in late 2020 a store manager implored his supervisors (several TDBNA regional managers) to act on the Sze network, noting that “it is getting out of hand and my tellers are at the point that they don’t feel comfortable handling these transactions.” Please provide the names of the TDBNA regional managers referenced above and all electronic correspondence sent or received by those individuals related to the Sze network’s accounts at TD bank.
- How many TD bank employees were found to be complicit in TD Bank’s failures related to the Sze network’s money laundering activities? How many of those employees have been terminated or referred for criminal prosecution?
- Have any employees who participated in the Sze network’s money laundering network been allowed to keep their jobs? If so, please explain why.
A web version of this release is here.
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