TD Bank will create 1,600 jobs in South Carolina over the next five years as it expands its headquarters in Greenville, S.C. and adds jobs in Lexington, S.C., the company announced Wednesday.

The bank will receive an undisclosed amount of taxpayer-funded incentives in exchange for its commitment.

TD Bank recently acquired The South Financial Group (TSFG) – which went belly-up despite receiving nearly $350 million in bailout money as part of the 2008 Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).

TSFG was acquired for $191.6 million, although just $61 million of that actually went to shareholders. The majority of the sale price – $130.6 million – went the U.S. Treasury Department. All told, the deal represented a $216.4 million loss for taxpayers, although former TSFG chief executive Mack I. Whittle received a $12 million golden parachute shortly after the bailout was approved.

Nice, huh?

After getting his bailout, Whittle was reappointed by South Carolina’s “Republican” lawmakers to the University of South Carolina board of trustees – where he has been a reliable vote in favor of speculative economic development disasters like “Innovista.”

Last December, TD purchased Chrysler Financial – the auto financing arm of Chrysler LLC. In January 2009, Chrysler Financial received $1.5 billion in TARP funds.

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