OCC Fines Three Former Wells Fargo Executives in Fake Accounts Scandal

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has fined three former Wells Fargo executives for their involvement in the bank's fake accounts scandal. Claudia Russ Anderson, former community bank group risk officer, was fined $10 million and barred from the banking industry. David Julian, former chief auditor, was fined $7 million, and Paul McLinko, former executive audit director, was fined $1.5 million.

These fines follow charges brought by the OCC against the three executives in 2020, alongside other former senior leaders of the bank. The OCC previously fined eight other former executives, including former CEO John Stumpf, a total of $43.2 million. Lawyers for the three executives did not immediately respond to requests for comment, nor did a Wells Fargo spokesperson.

According to the OCC, Russ Anderson failed to adequately challenge the bank's incentive compensation program, which regulators found incentivized employees to create unauthorized customer accounts. The OCC stated she "repeatedly and consistently downplayed" the misconduct and failed to provide information to regulators during their examination of the bank. The OCC also stated that Julian and McLinko failed to conduct effective audits that would have detected the misconduct and failed to escalate the issues.