Once Wells Fargo realized that they had actually opened the accounts without my permission, and did not have my signature on any bank documents authorizing them to open accounts, and that they had failed to require the management company to provide them with any of the federally required supporting documentation before opening the accounts, they became less than helpful.
Wells Fargo's Position?
If we don't admit it, we didn't do it
...even if we did.
Because Wells Fargo refused to take any responsibility for their actions, I filed a complaint against them with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, (CFPB). The complaint alleged that Wells Fargo had knowingly allowed a third party to open two business checking accounts in my name, in my absence, and without my authorization, my identification, or any of the federally required supporting documentation, and that they kept the accounts open for four years without ever notifying me of this activity, as the individual listed as the primary account holder on the accounts. 
In their initial, and incomplete response to the CFPB, Wells Fargo provided false information, referencing a single account, with a different account number and business name, that I opened in California in 2009, 4-years after the accounts in question were opened, even though my complaint clearly specified that there were two accounts, including the account numbers, and that they were opened in Utah, in 2005.
Incredibly, Wells Fargo also identified the 2009 account they referenced in their response as having been, 'opened fraudulently', despite having all of the proper and required documentation on file with the bank for that account.
Wells Fargo made a four year mistake? Not very likely.
Wells Fargo lied to get out of trouble? VERY likely.
Wells Fargo lied to get out of trouble? VERY likely.
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| Wells Fargo's response letter to the CFPB. |
Wells Fargo never bothered to address the existence of a second account, or why they had opened the accounts without obtaining the required proof of a Business Registration filing with the state, or why they kept the accounts open for four years, knowing they never had it.
After pointing out that Wells Fargo had provided false information in their response, the CFPB recognized the need for further investigation, and forwarded my complaint to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. (OCC).
In their first responses to the OCC, Wells Fargo completely omitted the information they had previously given to the CFPB, and this time they claimed to have my signature on file on a Business Account Application (pic below). which they did not have.
In a subsequent response, Wells Fargo claimed that I had provided my California Driver's License as identification at account opening, even though I was not present at the time, and had not been in the state for over a month, and wasn't even aware that the accounts had been opened.
Remember the branch manager who refused to open replacement accounts for me, because Wells Fargo didn't have my signature, identification, or my DBA on file?
If they didn't have it then, they couldn't have it now.
If they didn't have it then, they couldn't have it now.
Once again, Wells Fargo failed to address why they had opened the accounts without first obtaining the required proof of a DBA filing with the state, or why they knowingly allowed the accounts to remain open for 4-years without it.
I pointed out to the OCC that Wells Fargo failed to address the entire complaint, and that it would have been impossible for them to have my signature, or a copy of my driver's license on file, because I never signed any bank documents, or gave anyone copies of my identification, and I wasn't even in the state when the accounts were opened.
Nevertheless, the OCC accepted Wells Fargo's, "we didn't do anything wrong" response as being truthful and closed the case.
I filed a resolution dispute with the OCC, noting that Wells Fargo had not addressed the entire complaint, and that the information they had provided was not truthful. I also furnished the OCC with additional documentation in support of my dispute, which included a letter from the Office of the Secretary of the State of Utah, confirming that there was no business registration on file with their office for the entire time the accounts were open, and that no business entity with the name appearing on the bank accounts was qualified, or authorized to transact business in the State of Utah. (below).
Nevertheless, the OCC accepted Wells Fargo's lies as the truth, dismissed my dispute, and closed the case again.
The most interesting part of the investigations
In their responses to both government agencies, Wells Fargo was certain that they had done nothing wrong, and had obtained everything that was required to legally open business bank accounts. In fact, they were so certain, that they never even bothered to look into the matter, or check to see what documentation they had in their files, before submitting their responses.
Wells Fargo did however, decide to have the same person respond to both of these agencies using an alias, so that neither agency would discover that they were being lied to, by the same person.
It doesn't take a handwriting expert to see that the same person signed both of the letters (above), but used different names and job titles. Sharon Green and D. Green are one in the same person, but why would Wells Fargo want the same person to respond to two government agencies on the same topic, using different names?
When Sharon Green responded to the OCC's investigation, she used the name, D. Green and completely omitted the information she had given to the CFPB as Sharon Green. This time she came up with a whole new story about having a copy of my driver's license on file, and my signature on a Business Account Application. which they did not have.
It's also no surprise that Sharon Green and D. Green share the same last name with another woman who worked for Wells Fargo and had a notorious history of fraud. Linda Green.
Linda Green was an auto parts shipping clerk from Georgia, who was hired to sign thousands of phony bank documents for Wells Fargo, as the bank's Vice President.
Linda Green was an auto parts shipping clerk from Georgia, who was hired to sign thousands of phony bank documents for Wells Fargo, as the bank's Vice President.
The CBS 60-Minutes segment below, details how Linda Green was hired to sign thousands of phony bank documents for Wells Fargo, as the Bank's Vice President. In fact, so many phony bank documents were being signed, they had to hire other people to sign Linda Green's name also.
Is Green the code name Wells Fargo uses for fraud?
In 2011, I went into the same Wells Fargo branch where the accounts had been opened, and I tried to open the same type of accounts, without providing any of the Federally required supporting documentation. The Wells Fargo employee refused to open the accounts, stating that her computer wouldn't even let her proceed further in the account creation process, without the required items... but their computers had no problem proceeding for the management company... and I had no problem video taping this Wells Fargo employee proving it.
This Wells Fargo employee went through the account creation process with me, but refused to open the accounts after I told her that I didn't have proof of a DBA filing
