Wells Fargo's push for sales included luring immigrants, deception, court records show

On "Hit the Streets Thursday," Wells Fargo bankers and tellers, specifically those of Latino descent, scouted the streets and Social Security offices for potential clients. Their goal: Find undocumented immigrants, take them to a local branch and persuade them to open bank accounts.

Others hit construction sites and factories, according to court documents. Knowing that undocumented workers there needed a place to cash their checks, Wells Fargo employees urged them to open new accounts while promising to waive check-cashing fees. Some offered the immigrants money to open an account.

The more people signed up, whether it was for checking and savings accounts, credit and debit cards, online banking or overdraft protection, the better. If they signed up for all of the features, even better. Each new account was considered a sale, and the more sales employees rack up, the better their future was with the company.

That's according to former employees' sworn statements obtained last month by a law firm that has been handling a shareholder's lawsuit against Wells Fargo. Former bank managers, personal bankers and tellers say they were forced to resort to questionable tactics to meet the company's unrealistic sales quotas.

Mark Molumphy, an attorney for the firm, said the sales practices, which spanned 15 years, were not a secret to the bank's executives and should have also been known to its board members.

"The conduct we have come up with is scandalous," another attorney, Joseph Cotchett, told the San Francisco Chronicle. "It's outrageous to think that regulators let the bank get away with this."

The alarming statements are the latest in a massive scandal that continues to engulf the San Francisco-based banking giant.

Wells Fargo has strongly denied the allegations from former employees.

"These allegations are inconsistent with our policies, values and the relationships we work hard to build with all parts of our community. Wells Fargo has long been committed to providing bank services to immigrants in a manner that complies fully with the law, and we have controls in place to ensure we comply with requirements," spokesman Ancel Martinez said in a statement. "[T]hese assertions are offensive, because they run counter to the expectations of Wells Fargo, and would be in violation of policies we have in place to safeguard against abuses."

The statements reveal that personal bankers and bank managers turned to unethical and potentially illegal ways to reach their daily quotas, while those who dared to report the bad practices were fired. They also raise questions about whether the alleged tactics may have violated federal law, which requires financial institutions to verify the identity of their customers.

Some of the practices involved creating fake bank accounts with fictitious names, and opening multiple accounts for customers, including undocumented immigrants, without their authorization, according to court documents. Federal law says that banks must first obtain information such as customers' date of birth, address and identification number before opening accounts.

Ricky Hansen Jr., who worked for several years as a manager at Wells Fargo branches in Arizona, said in court documents he witnessed sales tactics "that started out okay but then evolved into massive fraud."

Still, the employee was praised by upper management, Hansen said. When he reported to the bank manager what he knew, he was told the employees' sales were legitimate.

"You have to decide if you want a job here. You can either run with us or not," Hansen recalled his district manager telling him, according to court records. "Play ball or get out."

Hansen was later fired, while the employee he reported was promoted, he said.