Wells Fargo defrauded 800,000 car loan borrowers, forcing 274,000 of them into bankruptcy and stealing ("wrongfully repossessing") 25,000 cars; they also ripped off mortgage borrowers by failing to send them their paperwork until after the deadline for filing it and then fining them for not filing it on time.
Now, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has hit the bank with a $1 billion fine, in what may its last-ever action. That's because Trump appointed Mick Mulvaney to run it, and Mulvaney is on record as wanting to shut it down, requested no money from Congress for enforcement, and has launched no new investigations since Trump took office.
But they sure took a bite out of Wells Fargo, America's crookedest bank.
Such a large fine is noteworthy for the CFPB under Mick Mulvaney, the acting director appointed by President Trump.
As a congressman, he called for the bureau's destruction. And under his leadership, the bureau has delayed payday-loan rules, dropped lawsuits against payday lenders and stripped a fair-lending division of its enforcement powers.
He told a House hearing this week that the bureau has not launched any enforcement actions since he took over last fall.
Wells Fargo fined $1 billion for insurance and mortgage abuses
[Donna Borak/CNN Money]
(Image: Pictures of Money, CC-BY)
