TD Bank has agreed to pay a record $3.22 billion fine after federal investigators found that it failed to monitor accounts used by drug cartels and criminal organizations to launder more than $670 million. Between 2018 and 2024, over 90% of TD Bank’s accounts went unmonitored, allowing criminal networks to move massive sums of money through the U.S. financial system.
The fines include payments to the Department of Justice, the Federal Reserve, and the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). This is the largest fine ever imposed on a U.S. bank for money laundering failures.
Investigators revealed that TD Bank’s lack of oversight enabled illegal activities, including fentanyl trafficking and terrorist financing. Treasury officials said the bank’s failures created a “fertile ground” for criminal activity to spread through the financial system.
The investigation began when federal agents uncovered Chinese criminals laundering millions of dollars from fentanyl sales through TD Bank branches in New York and New Jersey. Despite receiving warnings from federal authorities in 2013, the bank failed to address the problems, resulting in billions of illicit funds flowing through its accounts.
Federal regulators will now monitor TD Bank for the next four years to ensure it complies with anti-money laundering regulations moving forward.