Fraud

In early September 2016, Wells Fargo was fined $185 million for opening up more than two million accounts under existing customers’ names, without those customers knowing about it, all in pursuit of the mighty dollar. It led to the firing of 5,300 employees. Wells Fargo’s CEO, John Stumpf, was denied his severance package after stepping down from his role, likely due to Elizabeth’s Warren eviscerating commentary and questions about his responsibility for the bank’s fraudulent practices. In particular, she asked about the practice of cross-selling – getting a bank customer to open multiple accounts with Wells Fargo – which she said “isn’t about getting customers what they need.... Cross-selling is all about pumping up Wells’ stock price.” She cited three years of quarterly calls to investors by Stumpf, in which he specifically mentions cross-selling successes as a reason to buy more stock in the company. https://youtu.be/xJhkX74D10M Cross-selling Cross-selling is not an illegal practice per se. Most people use the same [...]

Everyone knows the name Bernie Madoff; he’s the man whose Ponzi scheme defrauded investors out of $65 billion, a scheme considered the largest act of financial fraud in history. What many investors do not realize, however, is that a Ponzi scheme is only one kind of broker fraud. The truth is investors throughout the country lose money all the time because of fraudulent or negligent actions by their brokers, brokerage firms, and advisors. How do you know if your broker has “done you wrong”? Very generally speaking, your broker owes you a duty of care. Anything he or she does that violates that duty, either out of negligence or fraudulent conduct, could make him or her liable for the losses you incur. If your broker or brokerage firm has not put your best interests first, and it resulted in a loss of assets for you, then you may be able to pursue a claim against them. If your broker lies [...]