Dirty Money

America's biggest bank's in hot water...

Wells Fargo employees at bank branches across the country

opened millions of illegal accounts, and they did it by using...

They knew it was happening.

They did nothing about it.

The bank says it was the work of a small minority of employees,

some bad apples who have been fired.

The bank destroyed their careers

after they tried to report wrongdoing.

They're the ones committing fraud,

and you're reporting it. Why would you get fired?

It was because I had exposed the fraud.

Hell no, they've got to go! Hey, hey! Ho, ho!

They said we were just bad apples.

We are not bad apples.

We did not make millions, you did.

The committee will come to order.

This hearing is entitled

"Holding Mega-Banks Accountable."

Mr. Sloane, please stand and raise your right hand.

["Lie, Cheat, Steal" by Run the Jewels plays]

Growing up, me and my twin sister always wanted to be bankers.

And if not a banker, a dentist.

And so my dad used to buy us at garage sales

adding machine the ten-key, so we were pretty good typists.

We'd have, like, fake money and we would count it.

We wanted to dress professional. You know, have, like, cute little scarves

or, you know, high heels,

and we wanted to be behind a desk and just be a banker.

I started as a teller at a community bank.

St. Helena is in the heart of Napa Valley,

and a lot of the vineyard workers would come to the bank,

cash their checks, and go home.

I started taking the time to educate them

that, you know, it's better if you have a checking account.

You can deposit your funds, you can write a check,

pay your bills, and then you're done.

So then, people started coming and asking for me.

I was hoping to start over and achieve

what I felt to be the American dream...

um, which is stability...

uh, something I'd lacked for most of my life, living in a war zone.

I was born and raised in Iraq.

When the war started in 2003, I was in eighth grade.

After war, my father started working with the US military.

He was persecuted by local militias who were anti-US military in Iraq.

Uh, kidnapped, so we had to actually flee the country

as refugees to Syria.

We stayed in Syria from 2005 until 2011,

when we finally got our vetting process done

by the Department of Homeland Security, and we move to the US.

We got lucky, I guess.

A lot of families, a lot of unlucky families

got stuck back in Syria

until today's date, actually.

I did have a partner in Syria,

so I was kind of heartbroken that I left my boyfriend there.

I pretty much was crying throughout the trip.

I was proud. I was proud to work for a bank

that had been in California since the 1800s,

that had such a stellar reputation.

It was a bank that did a lot in the communities that it served.

I was with Wells quite a few years.

The bank was so diverse.

When you go into other banks,

it's usually primarily Caucasian-- Caucasian men.

When you go into a Wells,

you saw women as leaders,

you saw Asian, Latino,

African American.

I felt I was adding value to the community...

initially.

We were founded in 1852 by Henry Wells and William Fargo

to offer banking and express services...

It's an exciting story.

And the most exciting part is we're still making history today.

In just six months,

three of the five biggest independent firms

on Wall Street have now disappeared.

Dow Jones industrial average now crossing 500 points on the decline.

The bull market that ran from 2002 to 2007 has been erased.

The market is not functioning properly.

There has been a widespread loss of confidence,

and major sectors of America's financial system

are at risk of shutting down.

Wells Fargo was the golden child

of the banking industry during the financial crisis.

The bank did not have the same types of settlements

like JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America and Citigroup paid.

Therefore, it was viewed as a safer institution,

customers trusted the bank more,

and it was really great for the bank in terms of gaining new business.

Wells Fargo celebrates its merger with Wachovia...

You are why I think you're the best bank in America.

Thank you for joining us, John Stumpf.

One of the first articles I wrote about Wells Fargo

was that they were literally the largest bank in the world,

bigger than the huge Chinese banks.

They, at first, really didn't want that article to come out

because that ruins their folksy image.

Even though it was based in San Francisco,

it was a very Midwestern bank.

They've got the stagecoach,

they love the stagecoach, and that is what they go by.

There seems to be an intense desire on the part of Wells Fargo

to hold on to its heritage.

I think banks, just in general-- People don't trust banks...

but fear is an emotion that drives a lot of decision making.

Back in that time, if we could protect in the wild, wild west

when all bets are off and there were no rules, no laws,

you know, we certainly can be trusted today, hopefully.

I work for Wells Fargo, remember?

We take on a consignment, we promise to deliver it. All the way.

Get inside the stagecoach,

and we'll take you to that other side safely

and make sure you're protected with your resources. Yeah.

They take this extremely seriously.

Warren Buffett had Wells Fargo

bring a stagecoach to one of his famous annual meetings,

and the stagecoach rode down the street

with John Stumpf, the CEO, and it was this huge hit.

They would have contests on how to name the ponies,

and they still give out stuffed...

animals-- Sorry.

Okay, let me start again because I always laugh.

I have a lot of reporting about these stuffed animals.

It's really hard to talk about the bank without bringing the stagecoach

or the ponies or the folksiness into it.

So we ought to say that's the one.

No company ought to be too big to fail. If we screw this up, we ought to fail.

It ought to be a big public event that-- And management ought to get fired,

and compensation ought to be clawed back.

-Yes. - Right.

According to my recruiter, I don't know if she was honest or not...

she selected me because of my smile, because I'm always smiling.

The feeling that I had is the same feeling when I go to Disneyland.

Like, a lot of excitement

that I am going to be something, big deal, you know.

Like, look at me. Yesterday, I was a refugee,

today I'm being employed by one of the largest corporations,

not only in the US, in the world, actually.

And I did apply for Wells Fargo,

and I got in without experience in the banking industry.

But then I know, why did they take me?

To smile to our customers, to make them feel welcome,

so we could steal their money.

The training was very intense.

It was a one-month long training.

They would talk a lot about what not to do.

They called it the code of ethics,

and they say, like, "Don't issue ATM cards

to people that don't request it.

Don't order credit cards for people that don't request them,

or they don't need them.

Don't open accounts without customer's consent."

This was like, "Okay, this is a no-brainer.

Let me sign this form. Let me move to the next thing."

Later, I found out that that's precisely what the bankers were doing.

Once I entered the branch, I was greeted

with my manager and one of the personal bankers.

She grabbed me to her desk and she said,

"Let me open an employee account for you now,

since you are an employee of Wells Fargo."

I was like, "But I do already have a student account at Wells Fargo.

I don't think I need another one."

She said, "No, this is free, trust me on it."

She kept on talking. I was like, "Okay, okay, okay."

"What do you want me to do?" She's like," Just sign these empty papers

and I will send you a checking account for free."

I signed, naively...

and I go home and I receive a debit card in the mail,

a pass-code for online banking,

a statement for my savings and checking account,

and a credit card.

I was really pissed off, to be honest with you, but...

when I started working after that and had my quota,

I understood why she did that.

I actually stopped getting mad at her, because I was put in the same situation.

So when you're hiring, what are you looking for?

We're looking for attitude.

We teach for aptitude.

We like to say we don't care how much you know...

until we know how much you care.

You can't teach caring.

And you can't teach sharing.

We used to start early with a morning huddle.

The manager would tell you,

"How many accounts do you commit to opening today?"

And so, what they wanted to hear was eight,

because that's the-- that was their mojo.

"Eight makes great," so...

everybody is like, "Eight, eight, eight," and they get to me, and, like, "Eight."

Everybody is saying eight, so I'll try to do that.

Then you get your day started,

you start calling people, or there's some walk-in business...

and then, around noon,

the managers come around

and they ask you how many accounts have you opened so far.

And they'd have to do that again around three o'clock,

and again at six o'clock at the end of the day,