Somerset County TD Bank Employee Admits To Accepting Bribes In Money Laundering Scheme

NORTH PLAINFIELD, NJ — A former New Jersey-based employee of TD Bank, who is from Somerset County, admitted on Thursday to accepting bribes as part of a money laundering scheme that moved more than $26 million to Colombia through TD Bank accounts.

Oscar Marcel Nunez-Flores (“Nunez”), 34, of North Plainfield, pleaded guilty 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," said 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.

Beginning in March 2021 and continuing until his arrest in October 2023, Nunez, then a TD Bank employee in Scotch Plains, accepted bribes and leveraged his position to facilitate a money laundering network’s expatriation of more than $26 million from the United States to Colombia, according to court filings and statements in court.

Throughout the scheme, Nunez opened dozens of accounts in the names of shell companies with nominee owners. He reportedly knew that the purported owners were not actually controlling the accounts and often opened the accounts without any customer present.

The accounts Nunez opened collectively issued more than 600 debit cards, primarily by Nunez. These debit cards were then used to make more than 120,000 withdrawals at ATMs throughout Colombia.

Nunez also issued debit cards to a fraudulent account and 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 as part of the money laundering scheme. Nunez opened these accounts in exchange for a fee ranging from around $500 to $2,500, which was typically paid either in cash or through a peer-to-peer digital payment network.

Nunez faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of $500,000 or twice the amount involved in the offense on the money laundering conspiracy charge. He also faces 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 for the receipt of bribes by a bank employee charge.

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