By: Najla Alexander
NJ AG officials announced that a former New Jersey-based employee of TD Bank, N.A., Oscar Marcel Nunez-Flores (“Nunez”), pleaded guilty today to accepting bribes in return for facilitating a money laundering network’s movement of over $26 million to Colombia through TD Bank accounts.
Nunez, 34, of North Plainfield, New Jersey, pleaded guilty before the Honorable Esther Salas to a two-count Information charging him with conspiring to launder monetary instruments and for receipt of bribes by a bank employee, according to NJ AG officials. 
NJ AG officials say he is scheduled to be sentenced on May 27.
“This case shows how complex money laundering schemes often depend on insiders who are willing to bend—or break—basic safeguards,” said Senior Counsel Philip Lamparello.
“Mr. Nunez afforded his co-conspirators unfettered access to TD Bank, while lining his own pockets in the process, and has been held to account, as will be others who abuse the financial system,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva.
According to court filings and statements in court, beginning in March 2021 and continuing until his arrest in October 2023, Nunez, then a TD Bank employee in Scotch Plains, New Jersey, accepted bribes and leveraged his position to facilitate a money laundering network’s expatriation of over $26 million from the United States to Colombia.
Through the course of his scheme, Nunez opened dozens of accounts in the names of shell companies with nominee owners. Nunez knew that the purported owners were not actually controlling the accounts and, in fact, often opened the accounts without any customer present whatsoever, NJ AG authorities stated.
The accounts Nunez opened in furtherance of the scheme were collectively issued over 600 debit cards, primarily by Nunez himself, NJ AG officials stated. These debit cards were then used to make over 120,000 withdrawals at ATMs throughout Colombia.
According to NJ AG officials, Nunez also participated in the conspiracy in other ways. For example, after issuing debit cards to a fraudulent account, he shipped them directly to a co-conspirator in Colombia. Additionally, Nunez registered shell companies in New Jersey and then opened accounts in their names at TD Bank in furtherance of the money laundering scheme.
Nunez opened these accounts in exchange for a fee ranging from approximately $500 to $2,500, which was typically paid either in cash or through a peer-to-peer digital payment network, NJ AG officials said.