Lawyers say bogus Wells Fargo accounts could rise to 3.5 million

The new estimate – 1.4 million accounts more than previously thought by federal regulators - was provided in a filing in federal court in San Francisco. Seattle-based Keller Rohrback, a law firm for the plaintiff customers, said that while the number ‘may well be over-inclusive’ it provided ‘a reasonable basis on which to estimate a maximum recovery’. US District Judge Vince Chhabria in San Francisco is scheduled to consider preliminary approval at a May 18 hearing.

Ballooning impact

The accounts scandal has grown in magnitude since Wells Fargo agreed last September to pay $185 million in penalties to settle charges by authorities including the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Wells Fargo employees were found to have opened the accounts in part because of pressure to meet sales goals. John Stumpf and Carrie Tolstedt, the bank's chief executive and retail banking chief lost their jobs and 5,300 employees in total were fired. The $142 million settlement sought covers accounts opened since May 2002.