TD Bank was already in hot water for its anti-money-laundering failures. Now a former employee in the bank's AML department is facing a felony charge in connection with a separate alleged criminal scheme.
Daria Sewell, 32, pleaded not guilty Thursday in New York state court to a felony charge related to the possession of customers' personally identifiable information.
Though the former TD employee was arrested in September, the case had not been publicized until the Manhattan District Attorney's office issued a press release on Thursday.
The charge against Sewell points to another challenge for TD in connection with anti-money-laundering issues. The U.S. unit of Toronto-based TD Bank Group recently pleaded guilty in federal court to money laundering conspiracy.
Sewell allegedly engaged in a different kind of misconduct than has been brought to light by the federal investigation. The state case grew out of a probe that is focused on check fraud, authorities said Thursday.
Sewell, who worked at TD from 2023 until May 2024, allegedly used her position in the bank's AML department to steal from TD customers.
After prosecutors executed a search warrant on her cell phone, they found images of 255 checks with the names of customers, according to the DA's office. The cell phone also had personal information, including names, addresses and Social Security numbers, for nearly 70 other customers, prosecutors said.
Sewell allegedly distributed customer information in a channel she operated on Telegram, an encrypted instant messaging platform, instructing other people to open bank accounts to deposit the checks and then splitting the profits.
"Telegram can be a hotbed for criminal activity, and we have uncovered everything from fraud to the sale of illegal firearms and the financing of terrorism," Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in the press release.
Sewell faces a single charge of unlawful possession of personal identification information in the second degree. She is currently out on her own recognizance and is next scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 19, according to a spokesman for the Manhattan DA's office.
The case against Sewell stemmed from a larger investigation in which five other people were charged in a nearly $500,000 check fraud scheme, according to the Manhattan prosecutor's office. Those five defendants, and others, communicated with Sewell to discuss strategies for committing check fraud, the DA's office said.
Authorities did not provide the names of the five other defendants, and the DA office's spokesman did not say whether any or all of those individuals are current or former TD Bank employees.
The probe of the check fraud scheme remains ongoing, according to the local prosecutors, who thanked New York Police Department detectives for their work on the case.
Sewell's attorney, Lawrence Fisher, did not respond Friday to a request for comment.
A TD Bank spokesperson said that Sewell's employment was terminated, and that the bank has cooperated fully with investigators. The bank spokesperson did not comment on whether other TD employees have been fired in connection with the Manhattan DA's check fraud investigation.
Sewell's not-guilty plea came on the same day that
Last month, the Canadian bank's U.S. arm
The sentence imposed by U.S. District Judge Esther Salas on Thursday was in line with what federal prosecutors had recommended. The bank must pay a $1.4 billion fine, forfeit $452 million of property involved in the offense and retain an independent monitor for three years. It will also be on probation for five years.
The Department of Justice has prosecuted two non-executive employees of TD in connection with its money-laundering investigation, but no high-level executives have faced charges. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in October that criminal investigations into individual employees at every level of the bank were ongoing.
