Bribes, Customer Information Fuel Money Laundering Operation For Former NJ Bank Employees: Officials

MOUNT LAUREL, NJ — Two former TD Bank employees were sentenced after they used company and customer resources to help others steal large amounts of money, the District Attorney's Office for the State of New Jersey said.W

Wilfredo Aquino, 47, of Manhattan, New York, was sentenced to 46 months in jail for conspiring to launder monetary instruments.

Edward Low, 31, of Flushing, New York, also known as "a Mang Wah Low" and "Eddie Low," was sentenced to 24 months in jail for conspiring to commit wire fraud affecting a financial institution and making false bank entries or reports as a bank employee.

Beginning in 2019 and ending in February 2021, Aquino used his role as a TD Bank assistant store manager to orchestrate a money laundering network's transfer of hundreds of millions of dollars through accounts.

The leader of the network, Da Ying Sze ("David"), and co-conspirators moved nearly $474 million through TD accounts after they deposited cash at banks in New York, New Jersey, and other locations.

David pleaded guilty in February 2022 to coordinating a $653 million money laundering conspiracy, operating a non-certified money transmitting business, and bribing bank employees.

Aquino saw that around 1,680 bank checks were processed at TD Bank for the group. This totaled more than $92 million, according to officials.

Nearly all of the checks were funded with a cash deposit of more than $10,000, a cause for the bank to be legally required to file a currency transaction report (CTR).

Aquino never named David as the "conductor" on the CTR. He also knew that TD closed other accounts with connections to David for suspicious activity.

A co-worker also warned Aquino that David's actions resembled money laundering.

In February 2021, Aquino carried out three of David's laundering acts that totaled to around $2 million in cash in a third party's account.

Aquino did not report David as the conductor. He also had accepted retail gift cards valued at more than $11,000 for his services.

Beginning in January 2021 and ending in May 2021, Low took bribes and used his role as a TD Bank retail employee to get confidential customer information that he then sent out to co-conspirators.

The group would then take over accounts and steal money.

Low received nearly $27,000 in bribes and helped facilitate $484,572.16 in fraud.

As an employee at another financial firm from May 2022 through August 2022, he took a bribe to create fake bank records in order to start an account in the name of a "shell" business.

That account was used to garner at least $47,195 in fraud.

TD Bank is headquartered in Mount Laurel.

MORE FROM PATCH: Former TD Bank Employee Guilty Of $3.4M In Fraud, State Says

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