December 13, 2016

Warren and Cummings Ramp Up Investigation Into Wells Fargo Fraudulent Sales Practices

Members Seek Documents from Prudential about Insurance Policies Sold Without Authorization

Text of the letter available here (PDF)

Washington, DC -Today, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), sent a letter to the CEO of Prudential Financial requesting a briefing and documents about press reports indicating that Wells Fargo bankers signed up customers for insurance without their knowledge or consent.

Ranking Member Cummings and Senator Warren have launched investigations into Wells Fargo's business practices after the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's September 8, 2016 Consent Order describing widespread fraud at the bank, including the opening of more than a million unauthorized checking and credit card accounts.

"It appears that the extent of Wells Fargo's fraudulent business practices is still unknown and the bank preyed on low-income customers through numerous schemes in an effort to line executives' pockets," the Members said. "We need a complete picture of how far Wells Fargo's abusive business practices stretch in order to hold executives accountable and prevent such fraud from ever happening again."

In today's letter, Cummings and Warren requested information about Prudential insurance policies sold through Wells Fargo branches between January 2013 and the present.
Full text of the letter is available here.