{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://messer.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-messer-house-committee-questions-wells-fargo-ceo-about-egregious", "Rep. Messer: House committee questions Wells Fargo CEO about egregious fraud, breach of trust", "2016-09-29", "2016", "2016-09", "Republican", "House", "IN", "Luke Messer", "M001189", "messer.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON (Sept. 29, 2016) \u2014 Rep. Luke Messer (IN-06) today joined committee members in questioning Wells Fargo Chairman and CEO, John Stumpf, about apparent widespread fraud in which company employees opened as many as two million false accounts using customer information and funds.\nSince 2011, 5,300 Wells Fargo employees have been fired due to unethical behavior, none of whom were senior managers or executives.\nThe House Financial Services Committee, which Messer serves on, held a hearing today aimed at holding the company and its executives accountable for this alleged fraud perpetrated against Wells Fargo customers over the past five years.\n\u201cThe American people want answers,\u201d Messer said. \u201cHow could 5,000 employees rig the system without any alarm bells going off? And, how will Wells Fargo make this right for all the customers whose credit ratings are now at risk?\u201d\nWells Fargo employees are accused of opening accounts in customers\u2019 names without their authorization from 2011-2015, and taking other illegal and unethical actions such as transferring funds from existing customers\u2019 accounts to temporarily fund others.\nEarlier this month, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the Office of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the City and County of Los Angeles entered into a settlement agreement with Wells Fargo over these allegations, fining the bank $185 million. Wells Fargo must pay an additional $5 million in customer remediation, which includes at least $2.5 million the bank has already refunded customers, averaging $25 per account.\nBut questions have been raised about the thoroughness and timeliness of the CFPB\u2019s investigation into this matter, Messer said, noting it took years to uncover this fraud scheme.\n\u201cThe CFPB is charged with protecting American consumers,\u201d Messer said. \u201cRight now, we don\u2019t know whether they deserve praise or a share of the blame.\u201d\nThe House Financial Services Committee is conducting a full investigation of Wells Fargo\u2019s banking practices to determine how this fraud occurred, if customers were fully compensated, how it will be prevented in the future and who will be held accountable. The committee will also investigate CFPB\u2019s role in the matter.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://messer.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-messer-house-committee-questions-wells-fargo-ceo-about-egregious"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9740320965647697, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}