WASHINGTON, Jan 14 (Reuters) - A U.S. banking regulator announced on Tuesday that three former executives at Wells Fargo were fined for their involvement in the bank’s extensive fake accounts scandal. Claudia Russ Anderson, the bank’s ex-community bank group risk officer, faces a $10 million fine and a ban from the banking industry. David Julian, the former chief auditor, and Paul McLinko, the former executive audit director, were fined $7 million and $1.5 million, respectively.
These three individuals were investigated by the OCC in 2020, together with other former high-ranking officials at the bank, but they chose not to settle. Previously, the regulator had fined eight other former bank executives, including the former CEO John Stumpf, a total of $43.2 million.
The trio's attorneys did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Likewise, a Wells Fargo representative did not provide an immediate comment.
The OCC stated that Russ Anderson failed to effectively challenge the bank’s incentive compensation program, which regulators determined encouraged employees to open bank accounts for customers without their consent. The OCC pointed out that she consistently downplayed the illegal activities and withheld information from regulators during their examinations.
The OCC also mentioned that Julian and McLinko did not carry out audits of the bank in a manner that could have uncovered the wrongdoing and did not report these issues accordingly.