Navajo Nation Files $50M Wells Fargo Fake Bank Account Class Action

The Navajo Nation is joining the litigation over the Wells Fargo fake account scandal, accusing the bank of targeting the tribe’s most vulnerable members.

The suit is being brought by Attorney General Ethel Branch on behalf of the Navajo Nation and its members. Branch claims that for years, Wells Fargo “created unauthorized bank accounts; activated unauthorized debit cards; pressured, cajoled and deceived Navajo elders; and enrolled Navajo customers in online banking services without authorization.”

This Wells Fargo lawsuit is one of the latest addressing a scandal revealed in September 2016 by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. According to the CFPB, bank employees were driven by unrealistic sales goals to create new accounts in existing customers’ names without their knowledge or consent. Around 1.5 million bogus accounts were opened, and 565,000 unauthorized credit cards were issued.

Navajo Nation tribal members were caught up in this excessive push to sell unwanted banking products, Branch claims, and they have suffered financial losses as a result.

According to this Wells Fargo lawsuit, from 2009 through 2016, bank branches within Navajo Nation territory opened accounts in tribal member’s names, issued debit cards, and enrolled customers in online banking, all without their consent. Bank employees allegedly misled tribal members into opening accounts they did not even need.

Branch accuses Wells Fargo of specifically targeting older tribal members, many of whom do not speak English. Wells Fargo is often the only source of banking services available to tribal members, making them even more vulnerable to deceptive and unfair banking practices, the complaint says.

As part of the Wells Fargo fake account push, Branch claims, bank employees staked out local events near the Navajo Nation like baseball games and flea markets to convince Navajo citizens to sign up for accounts they did not need or understand.

Branch says these Wells Fargo salespersons signed up underage citizens for accounts, falsifying their birthdates to avoid requiring their parent’s consent.

Once the scandal was revealed, Wells Fargo assured the Navajo Nation that the bank’s sales practices has no effect on tribal members – an assurance Branch says turned out to be false, and that was delivered to “lull the Navajo Nation away from pursuing recourse.”

In fact, Branch claims, Wells Fargo’s sales practices have caused Navajo Nation members to be hit with account fees, late fees, attempts at debt collection, and adverse effects on their credit ratings.

Earlier this year, plaintiffs in a separate Wells Fargo class action lawsuit reached a $142 million settlement resolving claims related to the fake account scandal. The settlement provides compensation for Wells Fargo customers who were charged fees related to bogus accounts set up in their names, and for customers who suffered damage to their credit as a result of the fraudulent accounts.

This Wells Fargo lawsuit seeks an award of damages, restitution and disgorgement, civil penalties, court costs and attorneys’ fees, as well as injunctive relief barring Wells Fargo from continuing the practices at issue.

The Navajo Nation is represented by Attorney General Ethel Branch and Assistant Attorney General Jana C. Werner of the Navajo Nation Department of Justice, and by John C. Hueston, Moez M. Kaba and Douglas J. Dixon of Hueston Hennigan LLP.

The Navajo Nation Wells Fargo Fake Accounts Lawsuit is Navajo Nation v. Wells Fargo & Co., et al., Case No. 1:17-cv-01219, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico.