On Tuesday, the Senate Banking Committee will hold hearings on the Wells Fargo fraud scandal, giving Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., an opportunity to rip into the bank. But Americans deserve to see prosecutions, and lots of them—not political grandstanding.
Since 2011, thousands of Wells Fargo employees pursued compensation incentives by secretly opening millions of bank and credit card accounts using customer names and signatures without authorization. Debit cards and PINs were activated without consent. In some cases, employees conjured phony email addresses to enroll their victims in online-banking services. Some clients suffered major hits to their credit scores and may spend years repairing the damage.
The fraud was so common that employees had a name for it: sandbagging. Wells Fargo fired 5,300 employees involved in the scandal and refunded $2.6 million in customer fees associated with the unauthorized accounts. These are necessary first steps, but far from sufficient. What occurred was large-scale criminal fraud, not simply “aggressive sales tactics.”
Unfortunately, government agencies have responded by demanding their piece of the action, not by prosecuting wrongdoers.
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3 comments:
An example is being made of Wells Fargo to fire a warning shot throughout the banking industry.
Make that warning shot a big one, please.
ANY of you think he's going to do any prison time???
LOL!
Oh yeah, there's a lot of talk about that, but it's only done to mollify the masses.
He is protected by Two Sets of Laws.
"We, the people", for falsifying someone's identity and opening fake accounts?
We'd plea bargain for 3-5 years in Jessup, and spend that time fighting for our lives in prison.
Think HE will do that???
Keep cheering as they continue to slap you across the face and tell you to shut up and sit down. Or else.
The rule of law is breaking down more and more every day. The wealthy and politically powerful show us they are above the law and are NOT afraid of any consequences.
Rulers throughout history have paid with their heads for that arrogance. It will happen here, too. Its inevitable.
Keep cheering.
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