The former head of Wells Fargo’s retail bank, Carrie Tolstedt, has avoided prison time after pleading guilty to an obstruction charge related to the bank’s fake-accounts scandal. Instead, she has been sentenced to three years of probation, including six months of home confinement, by U.S. District Judge Josephine Staton in Los Angeles. Tolstedt will also pay a $100,000 fine and serve 120 hours of community service.
Tolstedt, who led Wells Fargo’s retail and small business lending business from 2007 to 2016, pleaded guilty in March to obstructing a government probe into misconduct at the bank. She is the only top executive to face criminal charges in connection with the scandal, which involved employees opening millions of unauthorized accounts to meet sales goals.
Unlike other top executives at major U.S. banks who faced potential prison time during the 2008 financial crisis, Tolstedt is one of the few to have faced such consequences. Prosecutors had sought a one-year prison term, but the actual sentence matched Tolstedt’s request. She has accepted “full responsibility” for her crime.
Tolstedt’s lawyer declined to comment on the sentencing, and the U.S. Attorney’s office in Los Angeles had no immediate comment.
In 2020, Wells Fargo paid $3 billion to settle federal criminal and civil probes into its sales practices. The bank admitted to pressuring employees to sell more products over a 15-year period, a practice known as cross-selling. The scandal led to the resignation of former CEO John Stumpf, who paid a $17.5 million civil fine and accepted a lifetime industry ban. The Federal Reserve also imposed a cap on Wells Fargo’s assets in 2018, limiting the bank’s growth.
Although the asset cap remains in place, Wells Fargo remains the fourth-largest U.S. bank. Tolstedt, once hailed as the “best banker in America” by Stumpf, has also accepted an industry ban and agreed to pay $20 million in civil fines to resolve charges by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Securities and Exchange Commission. Additionally, the bank has clawed back tens of millions of dollars of her pay.
In conclusion, Tolstedt, the former head of Wells Fargo’s retail bank, has been sentenced to probation, home confinement, a fine, and community service after pleading guilty to obstructing a government probe into the bank’s fake-accounts scandal. She is the only top executive to face criminal charges in connection with the scandal, and her sentencing reflects her acceptance of responsibility for her actions. Wells Fargo has also faced significant consequences for its sales practices, including a multi-billion dollar settlement, the resignation of its CEO, and an asset cap imposed by the Federal Reserve.
