Wells Fargo Exec Who Headed Phony Accounts Unit Collected $125 Million

[geardaddy]

Saw this on Robert Reich's Facebook page. Here are his comments:

Carrie Tolstedt, the Wells Fargo Bank executive in charge of the unit where employees opened more than 2 million unauthorized customer accounts – thereby committing “unfair and abusive practices under federal law,” according to the head of the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau -- is not being fired. Instead, she's leaving the bank with a pay package of $124.6 million.

Poor kids are going to prison for possessing a few ounces of cocaine. Top Wall Street executives defraud millions of customers and get a fortune. If this isn’t a rigged game, I haven’t seen one.
What do you think?

Here's the original story.
http://fortune.com/2016/09/12/wells-fargo-cfpb-carrie-tolstedt/

Wells Fargo & Co’s ( wfc ) “sandbagger”-in-chief is leaving the giant bank with an enormous pay day—$124.6 million.

In fact, despite beefed-up “clawback” provisions instituted by the bank shortly after the financial crisis, and the recent revelations of massive misconduct, it does not appear that Wells Fargo is requiring its former consumer banking chief Carrie Tolstedt to give back any of her nine-figure pay. Until recently, Tolstedt was in charge of the unit where Wells Fargo employees opened more than 2 million largely unauthorized customer accounts—a seemingly routine practice that employees internally referred to as “sandbagging.”

On Thursday, Wells Fargo ( wfc ) agreed to pay $185 million, including the largest penalty ever imposed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, to settle claims that that it defrauded its customers. The bank’s shareholders will ultimately have to swallow the cost of that settlement. The bank also said it had fired 5,300 employees over five years related to the bad behavior.


See also: Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer May Get Huge Payout After Verizon Acquisition

Tolstedt, however, is walking away from Wells Fargo with a very full bank account—and praise. In the July announcement of her exit, which made no mention of the soon-to-be-settled case, Wells Fargo’s CEO John Stumpf said Tolstedt had been one of the bank’s most important leaders and “a standard-bearer of our culture” and “a champion for our customers.”

On Thursday, Richard Cordray, the head of the CFPB, had a different take, “It is quite clear that [the actions of Tolstedt’s unit] are unfair and abusive practices under federal law,” said Cordray. “They are a violation of trust and an abuse of trust.”

Rest at link.

[MattP]

1. Wells Fargo added overdraft and a premium account to my free checking account i opened

they are a horrible bank

[geardaddy]

2. She should be indicted for fraud

and have her assets frozen.

[geardaddy]

3. Kickety

[Ohioblue22]

4. They got in trouble again any time I see wells Fargo I run away

[sammythecat]

5. She should be going to jail

Instead, she's going to be fabulously wealthy. For all her hard work I suppose.

For me to "earn" that kind of money, I'd have had to start working while the Egyptians were still building pyramids.

[Ilsa]

6. I know someone who suddenly had a debit/credit card account

opened for them when all she opened was a checking account.

[lostnfound]

9. I do too.. And every month money was transferred to pay a minimum toward some annual fee

Ridiculous

[ansible]

7. There's no fucking justice left in this country

What a fucking joke it all is now.

[alcibiades_mystery]

8. I really don't understand why any business would pay anybody that much money for anything

It's ludicrous.

[KelleyKramer]

10. Unbelievable. ..

More proof if you are an exec at major bank, crime not only pays, it pays huge

[Initech]

11. In capitalist America, either you rob the bank or the bank robs you.

[Blue_Tires]

12. ttt