Wells Fargo Pays $ 37 Million to Fix Justice Department Problem Claiming to Fraud Currency Customers

Wells Fargo paid $ 37 million to settle a government lawsuit accusing the bank of defrauding hundreds of business customers.

The bank allegedly overcharged 771 companies on foreign exchange transactions from 2010 to 2017, according to the US Department of Justice lawsuit filed on Monday. The bank’s shares fell 1.4%.

The settlement is the latest regulatory issue resolved under Wells Fargo CEO Charles Scharf, who was hired in 2019 to clean up a litany of legal issues that began with a fake accounts scandal in 2016. Earlier this month, Wells Fargo was fined $ 250 million the same day it announced the resolution of a Consent Order from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Wells Fargo told trading clients they were charged certain fixed rates, but then urged sellers to “overcharge FX clients,” according to the lawsuit.

The bank then concealed the overbills from customers and obtained “millions of dollars in foreign exchange income that the bank was not entitled to,” according to the lawsuit.

The bulk of the settlement, $ 35.3 million, will serve as compensation for overcharged customers, the government said. A whistleblower who launched the case in 2016, Paul J. Kohn, is expected to receive $ 1.6 million, the United States said.

The bank did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.

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