A former Florida-based worker of TD Bank N.A. was arrested and charged by felony criticism yesterday for facilitating cash laundering to Colombia by means of the monetary establishment.
According to court docket paperwork, Leonardo Ayala, 24, labored at a TD Bank retailer in Doral, Florida, between February and November 2023. Starting in June 2023, Ayala allegedly exploited his place as a financial institution worker to facilitate cash laundering. As alleged, after one other TD Bank worker opened accounts within the names of shell corporations with nominee homeowners, Ayala assisted the cash laundering community by issuing dozens of debit playing cards for the accounts in change for bribes. Those accounts have been then allegedly used to launder thousands and thousands of {dollars} in narcotics proceeds by means of money withdrawals at ATMs in Colombia.
Ayala made his preliminary look yesterday in Miami federal court docket, and all future court docket proceedings shall be in New Jersey. He is charged with one rely of conspiracy to commit cash laundering. If convicted, he faces a most penalty of 20 years in jail. A federal district court docket choose will decide any sentence after contemplating the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and different statutory components.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger for the District of New Jersey; Special Agent in Charge Jenifer L. Piovesan of the IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Newark Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Denise Foster of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Caribbean Division; and Special Agent in Charge Patricia Tarasca of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of Inspector General (FDIC-OIG) New York Region made the announcement.
The IRS-CI Newark Field Office, DEA San Juan Field Office, and FDIC-OIG New York Field Office are investigating the case. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, IRS-CI Miami Field Office, FDIC-OIG South Florida Field Office, DEA Miami Field Office, and Morristown Police Department offered worthwhile help within the investigation.
Trial Attorneys D. Zachary Adams and Chelsea Rooney of the Bank Integrity Unit of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section (MLARS) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Marko Pesce for the District of New Jersey are prosecuting the case.
MLARS’s Bank Integrity Unit investigates and prosecutes banks and different monetary establishments, together with their officers, managers, and staff, whose actions threaten the integrity of the person establishment or the broader monetary system.
An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed harmless till confirmed responsible past an inexpensive doubt in a court docket of legislation.
