The bank also pleaded guilty to conspiring to block regulatory oversight.

Rabobank, a California unit of the Dutch cooperative lender, has agreed to pay over $368 million to settle charges it processed illicit funds and pleaded guilty to conspiring to obstruct regulatory oversight. 

The bank, which offers wealth management services, allowed hundreds of millions in untraceable cash from Mexico and elsewhere to be deposited into its California branches. Then, it transferred without adequate monitoring and reporting of suspicious transactions to federal regulators, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) said in a statement. 

Separately, the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the bank’s primary regulator, has imposed a $50 million civil penalty over lapses in its Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering compliance policies. It said, however, that the penalty would be credited toward Rabobank’s DoJ fine. 

“Settling these matters is important for the bank’s mission here in California,” Mark Borrecco, chief executive of Rabobank North America, said in the statement. He also said the bank had enhanced internal controls and risk management.

Rabobank decided to “look the other way” when it learned the transactions were likely tied to drug trafficking, organized crime and money laundering, acting assistant US attorney general John Cronan said.

Three bank executives then tried to obstruct a 2012 OCC probe to avoid sanctions imposed for similar failures in 2006 and 2008, the statement said, and the bank provided false and misleading information in response to a 2013 report by the regulator.

Rabobank’s guilty plea took place in the US District Court in San Diego. It pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge for impeding the OCC and obstructing its examination.