Hirono Seeks Wells Fargo Action
She and other Senate Democrats such as Elizabeth Warren appeal to the Justice Department.
Sen. Mazie Hirono and a coalition of her Democratic colleagues want Attorney General Loretta Lynch to hold Wells Fargo accountable as a corporation and prosecute individual executives who may have broken the law.
That comes from a press release late Tuesday from the office of Hirono, who represents Hawaii.
As has been widely reported, the bank’s employees created millions of phony bank and credit card accounts without customers knowing it.
The senators, who include Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, state in their letter to the Justice Department:
“A bank teller that takes a handful of bills from the cash drawer is likely to face charges for theft and prison time. She can’t hide behind an army of lawyers and corporate policies that diffuse accountability for those at the top. “Meanwhile, an executive who oversees a massive fraud that implicates thousands of bank employees and costs customers millions of dollars can walk away with a hefty retirement package and millions in the bank.”
The Justice Department is investigating whether Wells Fargo violated federal laws.
Hirono’s office points out that last month the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued “its largest penalty to date” of over $100 million to the bank as a result of “this multi-year, multi-state fraud.”
