Warren says Wells Fargo execs should be criminally investigated

In a blistering rebuke, Sen. Elizabeth Warren told Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf that he should resign and that he and other execs at the embattled bank should be criminally investigated

Sen. Elizabeth Warren called for a criminal investigation of Wells Fargo executives and told CEO John Stumpf he should resign during a Senate Banking Committee inquiry into the bank Tuesday.

Warren (D-Mass.) excoriated Stumpf and Wells Fargo over the cross-selling scandal in which the bank opened 2 million unauthorized accounts, according to a CNBC report. Warren said the banking industry wouldn’t see reform until executives saw actual jail time.

“This is about accountability,” she said. “You should resign, you should give back the money you took while this scam was going on and you should be criminally investigated by both the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

“The only way that Wall Street will change is if executives face jail time when they preside over massive frauds,” Warren said. “Until then it will be business as usual – and at giant banks like Wells Fargo, that seems to mean cheating as many customers, investors and employees as they possibly can.”

Warren also accused Stumpf of “gutless leadership,” according to CNBC.

“If one of your tellers took a handful of 20-dollar bills out of the cash drawer, they’d probably be looking at criminal charges for theft,” Warren said. “They could end up in prison, but you squeezed employees to the breaking point so they could cheat customers and you could drive up the value of your stock and put hundreds of millions of dollars in your pocket.”

According to CNBC, Warren is one of only a few members of the Senate Banking Committee who hasn’t taken money from Wells Fargo’s political action committee.