Florida TD Bank employee sentenced for laundering over $5M

A court on Wednesday sentenced Leonardo Ayala, a former banker at TD Bank, to two years in prison for taking bribes and helping launder more than $5.5 million to Colombia, according to the Justice Department. Ayala, 26, is also expected to serve three years of supervised release after his prison term.

What kind of scheme was he involved in? An Internal Revenue Service criminal unit and inspectors from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation investigated the case. They found that from June to November 2023, Ayala opened fraudulent accounts and issued more than 150 debit cards to shell companies. He also lifted the bank’s restrictions on some debit cards after it blocked them for suspicious activity.

Co-conspirators in Colombia used the accounts and cards to make over 12,000 ATM withdrawals, funneling more than $5.5 million in narcotics proceeds into the country. Ayala accepted over $6,000 in bribes for his actions, according to the Justice Department. The department didn’t say whether a drug gang or other entity was responsible for recruiting Ayala for the scheme.

Dig deeper: Read my report on the sentencing of Karmelo Anthony, a teen who fatally stabbed another at a track meet.