Federal prosecutors in San Diego have indicted three scaffolding executives on charges that they conspired to defraud the United States through a scheme that allegedly involved lies and trickery to secure construction-related contracts with the U.S. Navy.
The lead defendant in the case is Alvin “Mick” McDonald Ruis Jr., a racehorse owner, breeder and trainer who in 2018 trained Bolt d’Oro, one of the entries in that year’s Kentucky Derby. Ruis later made headlines when he successfully filed a lawsuit that resulted in the winner of the 2018 Kentucky Derby, triple-crown champion Justify, being disqualified from an earlier victorious race in California.
In a matter unrelated to the charges Mick Ruis now faces, his son, Alvin McDonald Ruis III, recently went on trial for murder in San Diego Superior Court for allegedly killing his cellmate at the downtown San Diego Central Jail. Alvin…
THE TD BANK INSIDER “BRIBE-FOR-DATA” SCHEME (USA)
Date: February 17, 2026 Perpetrator: Edward Low (Former Bank Employee)
Case Description: In a high-profile case of “Insider Threat,” Edward Low, a former employee of TD Bank in New York, pleaded guilty in a New Jersey federal court to accepting bribes in exchange for confidential customer data. Between 2021 and 2022, Low leveraged his internal access to harvest the personal details of high-balance account holders. He then sold this “hot data” to external fraud syndicates for as little as $26,700 in personal kickbacks.
The external fraudsters used the information Low provided to conduct “Account Takeovers” (ATO), creating fraudulent checks and falsifying bank records to drain over $500,000 from unsuspecting customers. Low even went as far as helping co-conspirators open shell company accounts at a second financial institution where he was later employed. He now faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison. This case has sent shockwaves through the global banking sector, highlighting that even the most robust external firewalls cannot protect against a “rogue insider” with administrative credentials.
Link to Original: US Dept of Justice – TD Bank Insider Plea