NEW YORK, NY - Metro Des Moines largest employer and the nation's fourth-largest bank has agreed to pay a $3 billion fine to settle a civil lawsuit.
The penalty against Wells Fargo also resolves a criminal case brought by the Justice Department over the bank's fake account scandal.
Wells Fargo employees, who were under pressure to meet sales quotas, opened millions of savings and checking accounts in the names of actual customers, without their knowledge or consent.
The bank has faced an onslaught of lawsuits since the fraud became public in 2016. The Justice Department says the scheme was carried out over more than 10 years by thousands of bank employees.
Wells Fargo employs 13,500 people in the metro Des Moines area, including many at its Home Mortgage headquarters in West Des Moines.