A former TD bank employee in Florida has pleaded guilty in Newark federal court to one count of receipt of bribes by a bank employee and one count of making false bank entries after the scheme cost the bank over $70,000, the Justice Department announced last week.
Between 2022 and 2023, Jhonnatan Steven Rodriguez of Naples, Florida opened approximately 140 bank accounts illegally, for customers who were not present but had contacted him via text, in exchange for small bribes between $200 and $250. Bribes from the scheme totaled $37,601, with several customers bribing him to open multiple accounts, according to court documents.
Rodriguez, who used the alias Jorge in communication with account seekers, forged customers’ signatures on account opening documents, according to U.S. Attorney Alina Habba.
Accounts opened by Rodriguez were used for fraudulent check activity that resulted in $71,665.87 in losses for TD, according to the DOJ.
Additionally, individuals in Colombia who had opened accounts through Rodriguez laundered $172,665 through ATM withdrawals, the DOJ said.
Rodriguez, who will be sentenced Nov. 25, faces a maximum of 60 years in prison and $2 million in fines. He’s currently out on $100,000 bond.
Per his plea agreement, Rodriguez is prohibited by financial regulators from working within the banking sector.
TD US, based in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, has been under a $434 billion asset cap since October following a number of anti-money laundering law violations. Two other TD employees in Florida were charged in money laundering cases last year, including one charged with taking bribes. Most prominently, the probe that led to the asset cap – and wide public scrutiny of the bank – revealed millions of dollars tied to the illicit fentanyl trade were funneled through the bank.
The scandal also led to an executive shakeup at the bank and heaping remediation bills.
The DOJ, TD and Rodriguez’s attorneys each did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
