A former TD Bank employee was sentenced on July 16 to 46 months in prison for facilitating a money laundering network’s movement of millions of dollars through TD Bank accounts, while another former employee was sentenced the previous day to 24 months in prison for conspiring to commit wire fraud affecting a financial institution and making false bank entries or reports as a bank employee, according to U.S. Attorney Robert Frazer.
Court documents show that Wilfredo Aquino, 47, of Manhattan, New York, used his position as an assistant store manager at TD Bank from 2019 to February 2021 to help move hundreds of millions of dollars through bank accounts controlled by Da Ying Sze (also known as David) and his co-conspirators. The network moved approximately $474 million through cash deposits at TD Bank locations in New York, New Jersey, and elsewhere. In February 2022, David pleaded guilty to coordinating a $653 million money laundering conspiracy and bribing bank employees.
Aquino processed around 1,680 official bank checks totaling more than $92 million for David’s group. Most checks were funded with cash deposits exceeding $10,000—amounts that required the filing of currency transaction reports (CTR). Aquino did not identify David as the “conductor” on these reports despite knowing about his involvement. A colleague warned Aquino that the activity “looks like money laundering.” In February 2021 alone, Aquino facilitated three transactions totaling almost $2 million without reporting David’s role. He received over $11,000 in retail gift cards from David for his assistance.
Edward Low (also known as “a Mang Wah Low” and “Eddie Low”), 31, of Flushing, New York, accepted bribes between January and May 2021 while working at TD Bank by providing confidential customer information to outside co-conspirators who used it for account takeovers and thefts totaling $484,572.16; he received at least $26,700 in bribes. Later employed at another financial institution from May through August 2022, Low accepted a bribe to falsify records so co-conspirators could open an account under a shell company name used for additional fraud.
U.S. Attorney Robert Frazer, Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva, Special Agent Jenifer L. Piovesan (IRS Criminal Investigation Newark Field Office), Special Agent Patricia Tarasca (FDIC Office of Inspector General New York Region), and the Morristown Police Department contributed to the investigation leading up to these prosecutions.
The Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section’s mission is described as taking profit out of crime and protecting the U.S. financial system by prosecuting those whose actions threaten its integrity—including financial facilitators who launder criminal profits or corrupt banking operations—and includes efforts such as its dedicated Bank Integrity Unit.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey is part of the U.S. Department of Justice; it prosecutes federal crimes statewide—including cases like this one—represents the United States in civil matters across New Jersey with offices located in Newark, Trenton and Camden; staffs about 170 attorneys plus support personnel; advances community safety through law enforcement coordination programs; and has alumni including federal judges and senators, according to its official website.