TD Bank Insider Pleads Guilty to Facilitating Colombian ATM Money Laundering Scheme

NEWARK – A former New Jersey-based employee of TD Bank, N.A., Oscar Marcel Nunez-Flores (“Nunez”), pleaded guilty today to accepting bribes in return for facilitating a money laundering network’s movement of over $26 million to Colombia through TD Bank accounts.

Nunez, 34, of North Plainfield, New Jersey, pleaded guilty before the Honorable Esther Salas to a two-count Information charging him with conspiring to launder monetary instruments and for receipt of bribes by a bank employee. He is scheduled to be sentenced on May 27.

“This case shows how complex money laundering schemes often depend on insiders who are willing to bend—or break—basic safeguards. Our office will continue to identify, investigate, and prosecute those who turn financial institutions into vehicles for large-scale criminal activity.”

- Senior Counsel Philip Lamparello

“Mr. Nunez afforded his co-conspirators unfettered access to TD Bank, while lining his own pockets in the process, and has been held to account, as will be others who abuse the financial system,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva. “The Criminal Division is committed to protecting the security of our financial system and the Bank Integrity Unit is at the vanguard of that critical mission.”

According to court filings and statements in court, beginning in March 2021 and continuing until his arrest in October 2023, Nunez, then a TD Bank employee in Scotch Plains, New Jersey, accepted bribes and leveraged his position to facilitate a money laundering network’s expatriation of over $26 million from the United States to Colombia. Through the course of his scheme, Nunez opened dozens of accounts in the names shell companies with nominee owners. Nunez knew that the purported owners were not actually controlling the accounts and, in fact, often opened the accounts without any customer present whatsoever. The accounts Nunez opened in furtherance of the scheme were collectively issued over 600 debit cards, primarily by Nunez himself. These debit cards were then used to make over 120,000 withdrawals at ATMs throughout Colombia.

Nunez also participated in the conspiracy in other ways. For example, after issuing debit cards to a fraudulent account, he shipped them directly to a co-conspirator in Colombia. Additionally, Nunez registered shell companies in New Jersey and then opened accounts in their names at TD Bank in furtherance of the money laundering scheme. Nunez opened these accounts in exchange for a fee ranging from approximately $500 to $2,500, which was typically paid either in cash or 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.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), IRS-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of Inspector General (FDIC-OIG) investigated the case. The Department also thanks the Morristown Police Department, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington for their assistance with the investigation.

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

The Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section’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: Peter Katz, Esq.