Yet more scandal for the banking giant – this time in its wealth management unit
Adding to Wells Fargo’s seemingly endless list of scandals, the company’s wealth-management unit is now reportedly under federal investigation.
The Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating the unit, according to a Wall Street Journal report. Citing sources familiar with the matter, the WSJ reported that FBI agents have interviewed some Wells Fargo employees.
The federal investigation is separate from an independent inquiry being led by a New York law firm, according to the Charlotte Business Journal. That investigation is looking into whistleblower claims that employees of the bank’s wealth-management unit pushed customers to purchase more expensive products and services in an effort to boost their own compensation.
This is just the latest scandal for the embattled bank, which has dealt with one crisis after another since the September 2016 revelation that its employees had opened millions of unauthorized customer accounts.
The bank has also been in hot water over charging its mortgage customers improper rate-lock fees – and later botching the refunds of those fees. It’s also been sued by two cities over allegedly discriminating against minority borrowers in its mortgage lending.
