Former TD Bank Employee Pleads Guilty to Accepting Bribes, Laundering $4.8 Million to Colombia

NEWARK, N.J. - Gerardo Aquino, 40, of Hollywood, Florida, pleaded guilty to accepting bribes and facilitating the laundering of more than $4.8 million to Colombia while employed by TD Bank, N.A., U.S. Attorney Robert Frazer announced.

Aquino, 40, pleaded guilty today before the Honorable Esther Salas in Newark to a two-count Information charging him with conspiring to launder monetary instruments and receipt of bribes by a bank employee. He is scheduled to be sentenced on March 23, 2027.

"The Criminal Division is at the vanguard of protecting the security of the U.S. financial system including against bank insiders," said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department's Criminal Division. "Gerardo Aquino abused his position of trust at TD Bank and enriched himself in the process. Bank insiders who facilitate money laundering and illegal activity for criminal organizations play a critical role for that organization and abuse our financial system. When that happens, these insiders will be investigated and prosecuted."

"From inside TD Bank, Aquino facilitated the laundering of millions of dollars in exchange for bribes. By enabling crime instead of preventing it, Aquino provided a soft entry point into our banking system for malevolent actors. The U.S. Attorney's Office will continue to hold financial institutions and their employees accountable when they break the law and undermine the integrity of our financial system."

- U.S. Attorney Robert Frazer

"This guilty plea demonstrates that corrupt financial insiders are just as critical to criminal networks as those who move drugs or incite violence," said Associate Chief of Operations Greg Millard of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). "By exploiting his position at a financial institution, accepting bribes, and helping funnel millions of dollars to Colombia, Gerardo Aquino enabled the movement of illicit proceeds and undermined the integrity of the U.S. financial system. DEA and our partners will continue to identify, investigate, and hold accountable the facilitators who help transnational criminal organizations profit from their crimes."

"The guilty plea in this case holds Mr. Aquino accountable for accepted bribes and abusing his trusted position at TD Bank to facilitate the laundering of millions of dollars out of the United States to Columbia," said Special Agent in Charge Patricia Tarasca of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of Inspector General (FDIC-OIG), New York Region. "The FDIC OIG is pleased to join our law enforcement partners in announcing today's guilty plea, and we remain committed to investigating financial crimes that threaten to undermine the safety and soundness of our Nation's financial system, including those crimes involving bank insiders."

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in Court:

Aquino accepted bribes and exploited his position as a bank employee to help launder illicit funds to Colombia. From April 2022 to November 2023, Aquino opened fraudulent accounts, issued hundreds of debit cards to co-conspirators, and unblocked debit cards that TD Bank had restricted due to potential fraud. The bank accounts and debit cards were then used to funnel approximately $4.8 million out of the United States. As part of this scheme, Aquino opened 86 individual customer accounts using the same exact commercial address in Miami. Those accounts alone were used to launder over $3 million in illicit funds to Colombia. In exchange, Aquino received more than $8,000 in bribes - paid in cash and through a peer-to-peer digital payment network.

The charge of money laundering conspiracy carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of $500,000 or twice the amount involved in the offense, whichever is greater. The charge of receipt of bribes by a bank employee carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a fine of $1,000,000 or three times the amount involved in the offense, whichever is greater.

U.S. Attorney Frazer credited special agents and task force officers of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Newark Field Office, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jenifer L. Piovesan, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation-Office of Inspector General (FDIC-OIG), New York Region, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Patricia Tarasca, with the investigation. U.S. Attorney Frazer also thanked the Morristown Police Department for its assistance with the investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Marko Pesce, Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division for the District of New Jersey and Trial Attorneys D. Zachary Adams and Chelsea Rooney of the Bank Integrity Unit of the Criminal Division's Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section are prosecuting the case.

The Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section's (MNF) mission is to take the profit out of crime, eliminate drug cartels, and protect the U.S. financial system. MNF pursues criminal prosecutions and criminal and civil asset recovery actions involving: financial facilitators who launder profits for criminals; financial institutions and their officers and employees whose actions threaten the U.S. financial system and financial institutions; international money launderers who support transnational organized crime; and the top command and control of international drug trafficking organizations.

MNF's Bank Integrity Unit investigates and prosecutes banks and other financial institutions, including their officers, managers and employees whose actions threaten the integrity of the individual institution or the wider financial system.

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Defense counsel: Patrick Joyce, Esq.