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Wells Fargo Pays $72.6 Million To Settle Justice Department’s Claim Of Defrauding Customers

It looks like Wells Fargo is continuing to wipe their slate clean, as the bank pays $72.6 million to customers.

According to CNBC, Wells Fargo “The bank admitted to overcharging 771 businesses on foreign exchange transactions from 2010 through 2017, according to the Justice Department lawsuit filed Monday.”

According to the lawsuit, Wells Fargo Wells led commercial customers to believe they were charged fixed rates. But told incentivized salespeople to “overcharge FX customers,” CNBC reports.

Afterward, the bank reportedly “concealed the overcharges and gave ‘false explanations’ for the inflated prices,” the government said.

“We all put trust in our banking institutions to deal with us honestly, fairly, and transparently when we are their customers,” Audrey Strauss, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, stated in a release, according to CNBC. “For the better part of a decade, Wells Fargo abused this trust, using tricks, false information, and other deceptive practices to fraudulently overcharge customers who used the Bank’s foreign exchange service,” she continued.

Earlier this month, Wells Fargo received a $250 million fine “on the same day it announced the resolution of a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau consent order,” CNBC reports.

The banking institution released a statement calling the behavior “unacceptable.” 

“We have significantly improved our business policies, procedures, and oversight related to the management and pricing of FX transactions,” a spokeswoman said. “We remain committed to serving the needs of our FX clients,” CNBC reports.

The whistleblower who is responsible for revealing the information back in 2016 will receive $1.6 million.

Roomies, what do you think of this as Wells Fargo pays $72.6 million?

LaJanee