According to court documents, Leonardo Ayala, 24, worked at a TD Bank store in Doral, Florida, between February and November 2023. Starting in June 2023, Ayala allegedly exploited his position as a bank employee to facilitate money laundering. As alleged, after another TD Bank employee opened accounts in the names of shell companies with nominee owners, Ayala assisted the money laundering network by issuing dozens of debit cards for the accounts in exchange for bribes. Those accounts were then allegedly used to launder millions of dollars in narcotics proceeds through cash withdrawals at ATMs in Colombia.
Ayala made his initial appearance yesterday in Miami federal court, and all future court proceedings will be in New Jersey. He is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the US sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.
Principal deputy assistant attorney general Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; US attorney Philip R. Sellinger for the District of New Jersey; Special Agent in Charge Jenifer L. Piovesan of the IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Newark Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Denise Foster of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Caribbean Division; and Special Agent in Charge Patricia Tarasca of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of Inspector General (FDIC-OIG) New York Region made the announcement.
The IRS-CI Newark Field Office, DEA San Juan Field Office, and FDIC-OIG New York Field Office are investigating the case. The US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, IRS-CI Miami Field Office, FDIC-OIG South Florida Field Office, DEA Miami Field Office, and Morristown Police Department provided valuable assistance in the investigation.
Trial attorneys D. Zachary Adams and Chelsea Rooney of the Bank Integrity Unit of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section (MLARS) and assistant US attorney Marko Pesce for the District of New Jersey are prosecuting the case.
MLARS’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.
– An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
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