Wells Fargo settles bid-rigging claims for $148 million

[one...two...tree 2,762]

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Wells Fargo & Co. and regulators announced Thursday a $148 million settlement to resolve accusations that Wachovia, which was purchased by Wells, participated in a bid-rigging scheme that hurt state and local governments.

It's the fourth major bank to settle with the consortium of federal agencies and state attorneys general. Bank of America Corp. settled for $137 million last December.

The settlement is also the second Wells Fargo has made on the issue in as many months.

"We're really pleased to resolve the issue," Wells Fargo spokeswoman Dana Obrist said, noting that it involved activity that predated the company's 2008 acquisition of Wachovia.

In a statement, the bank said it "cooperated fully" with the investigation and does not condone illegal activity.

The federal agencies alleged that a group of large banks conspired to defraud local governments and other entities that bought municipal derivatives, which are used to invest money from bond proceeds until they are needed for projects. Bankers coordinated what they would bid on the contracts and in some cases paid kick-backs to one another, investigators said.

A total of $54.5 million will go to towns, school districts and nonprofits around the country as part of the settlement with 26 state attorneys general.

"Rigging the system to prevent fair competition cost taxpayers, local governments and schools millions of dollars," North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper said in a statement. "I'm pleased that we've been able to win money back for those who were harmed here in North Carolina."

Read more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/12/08/132578/wells-fargo-settles-bid-rigging.html#ixzz1g6BKxGiV

[Obama 2012 1,714]

Someone could wipe out every last executive, manager, and branch employee of Wells Fargo and I wouldn't blink an eye.

Actually, I might throw a party.

Wells Fargo and anyone associated with them deserve a sawed-off shotgun shoved in their mouth and the trigger pulled.

[spookyturtle 9,466]

Someone could wipe out every last executive, manager, and branch employee of Wells Fargo and I wouldn't blink an eye.

Actually, I might throw a party.

Wells Fargo and anyone associated with them deserve a sawed-off shotgun shoved in their mouth and the trigger pulled.

Sicko.

[Obama 2012 1,714]

Sicko.

[Póg mo 1,749]

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Wells Fargo & Co. and regulators announced Thursday a $148 million settlement to resolve accusations that Wachovia, which was purchased by Wells, participated in a bid-rigging scheme that hurt state and local governments.

It's the fourth major bank to settle with the consortium of federal agencies and state attorneys general. Bank of America Corp. settled for $137 million last December.

The settlement is also the second Wells Fargo has made on the issue in as many months.

"We're really pleased to resolve the issue," Wells Fargo spokeswoman Dana Obrist said, noting that it involved activity that predated the company's 2008 acquisition of Wachovia.

In a statement, the bank said it "cooperated fully" with the investigation and does not condone illegal activity.

The federal agencies alleged that a group of large banks conspired to defraud local governments and other entities that bought municipal derivatives, which are used to invest money from bond proceeds until they are needed for projects. Bankers coordinated what they would bid on the contracts and in some cases paid kick-backs to one another, investigators said.

A total of $54.5 million will go to towns, school districts and nonprofits around the country as part of the settlement with 26 state attorneys general.

"Rigging the system to prevent fair competition cost taxpayers, local governments and schools millions of dollars," North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper said in a statement. "I'm pleased that we've been able to win money back for those who were harmed here in North Carolina."

Read more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/12/08/132578/wells-fargo-settles-bid-rigging.html#ixzz1g6BKxGiV

These banks and their employees all willingly and knowingly engaged in fraud and a fine, without even the admission of guilt, is all the punishment they get.

From last month's rolling stone magazine:

Woman Gets Jail For Food-Stamp Fraud; Wall Street Fraudsters Get Bailouts

Last week, a federal judge in Mississippi sentenced a mother of two named Anita McLemore to three years in federal prison for lying on a government application in order to obtain food stamps.

Apparently in this country you become ineligible to eat if you have a record of criminal drug offenses. States have the option of opting out of that federal ban, but Mississippi is not one of those states. Since McLemore had four drug convictions in her past, she was ineligible to receive food stamps, so she lied about her past in order to feed her two children.

The total "cost" of her fraud was $4,367. She has paid the money back. But paying the money back was not enough for federal Judge Henry Wingate.

Wingate had the option of sentencing McLemore according to federal guidelines, which would have left her with a term of two months to eight months, followed by probation. Not good enough! Wingate was so outraged by McLemore’s fraud that he decided to serve her up the deluxe vacation, using another federal statute that permitted him to give her up to five years.

He ultimately gave her three years, saying, "The defendant's criminal record is simply abominable …. She has been the beneficiary of government generosity in state court."

Compare this court decision to the fraud settlements on Wall Street. Like McLemore, fraud defendants like Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and Deutsche Bank have "been the beneficiary of government generosity." Goldman got $12.9 billion just through the AIG bailout. Citigroup got $45 billion, plus hundreds of billions in government guarantees.

All of these companies have been repeatedly dragged into court for fraud, and not one individual defendant has ever been forced to give back anything like a significant portion of his ill-gotten gains. The closest we've come is in a fraud case involving Citi, in which a pair of executives, Gary Crittenden and Arthur Tildesley, were fined the token amounts of $100,000 and $80,000, respectively, for lying to shareholders about the extent of Citi’s debt.

Neither man was forced to admit to intentional fraud. Both got to keep their jobs.

Anita McLemore, meanwhile, lied to feed her children, gave back every penny of her "fraud" when she got caught, and is now going to do three years in prison. Explain that, Eric Holder!

[Karee 4,191]

Someone could wipe out every last executive, manager, and branch employee of Wells Fargo and I wouldn't blink an eye.

Actually, I might throw a party.

Wells Fargo and anyone associated with them deserve a sawed-off shotgun shoved in their mouth and the trigger pulled.

[SuperDuper! 230]

Someone could wipe out every last executive, manager, and branch employee of Wells Fargo and I wouldn't blink an eye.

Actually, I might throw a party.

Wells Fargo and anyone associated with them deserve a sawed-off shotgun shoved in their mouth and the trigger pulled.

Death Threats.