TD Bank Reaches Settlement in Ponzi Scheme Lawsuit

TD Bank has agreed to pay unspecified damages to victims of a former TD client who pleaded guilty two years ago to running a massive Ponzi scheme.

TD Bank revealed the settlement at a bankruptcy court hearing in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Friday, according to a report in the South Florida Business Journal. An attorney for the bank said that the terms of the settlement were "privileged and confidential."

The suit is related to a Ponzi scheme perpetrated by disbarred Florida attorney Scott Rothstein, who is currently serving a 50-year jail term for defrauding investors out of $1.2 billion. Plaintiffs, who lost a combined $186 million in the scheme, accused TD Bank of perpetuating the fraud by failing to report large transactions moving in an out of Rothstein's accounts at the bank.

News of the settlement comes five weeks after a Florida jury ruled that TD Bank must pay $67 million in damages in a separate lawsuit relating to the same scheme.

The bank, a unit of Toronto-Dominion Bank, is appealing that verdict, according to the South Florida Business Journal.

After the January ruling, TD Bank announced that it would set aside roughly $255 million for potential legal damages.

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