Staff Reports
The Justice Department announced on July 15, 2026 that two former TD Bank employees were sentenced to prison for helping a massive money‑laundering and fraud scheme. Wilfredo Aquino, a former TD assistant store manager, drew 46 months behind bars for conspiring to launder monetary instruments. Edward “Eddie” Low, a former retail employee who later worked at another financial institution, was sentenced to 24 months for bank fraud and falsifying records. The case puts a harsh spotlight on bank insiders and weak anti‑money‑laundering controls at big banks.
The crimes that landed them in federal court
Prosecutors say Aquino processed roughly 1,680 official bank checks — about $92 million in checks — and repeatedly accepted cash deposits that should have triggered Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs). Instead of naming the network leader when required, Aquino concealed who was actually conducting the transactions and accepted more than $11,000 in retail gift cards as bribes. The laundering ring, led by Da Ying Sze (known as David), moved roughly $474 million through TD Bank accounts. Low’s role was different but no less corrosive: he took at least $26,700 in bribes, stole confidential customer information to enable account takeovers, and helped facilitate roughly $484,572 in fraud at TD Bank and tens of thousands more at another institution.
Inside jobs betray customers and the rule of law
This isn’t a story about clever criminals outsmarting computers. It’s about employees who were supposed to be gatekeepers selling access for gift cards and cash. Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva and investigators made the point plainly: these men used their jobs to help a transnational laundering network and enriched themselves while customers were left exposed. If loyalty to a paycheck and a bank’s brand can be bought for a few thousand dollars, the rest of us are the ones who pay the price — in stolen funds, higher fees, and a weaker financial system.
What this says about banks, AML, and accountability
The case is the latest reminder that anti‑money‑laundering (AML) programs are only as strong as the people who enforce them. TD Bank has previously faced government action for systemic AML failures, and these insider prosecutions expose how corporate weaknesses get exploited from the inside. Fines or settlements for a bank feel like a cost of doing business unless regulators force real, transparent change: better employee vetting, stronger internal controls, meaningful whistleblower protections, and criminal consequences for insiders who betray customers.
Bottom line: criminals go to prison, banks must do better
Prison sentences for bank insiders are necessary and appropriate. But locking up a few employees won’t fix a broken system on its own. Regulators should not let banks treat enforcement payments as a routine expense while customers shoulder the risk. If taxpayers and savers are to be protected, corporate accountability must follow individual accountability — and the next time someone at a teller window gets a tempting offer, the bank’s systems should make it impossible to say “yes.”
