Wells Fargo has a rich history of defrauding clients and mishandling bank accounts. Improper actions taken by the bank include: fraudulently opening accounts and issuing credit cards without a customer’s consent; origination and sale of loans that did not meet stated quality; force placing auto insurance that lead to customers defaulting on car loans; and mismanaging a tribal youth trust fund for the Seminole Tribe of Florida, costing them millions in unauthorized fees.
On July 11, a candidate for Florida Agriculture Commissioner and an advocate for expansion of medical marijuana, Nikki Fried, received an email from Wells Fargo indicating that they had examined her campaign platform and were asking her to confirm the source of potential future donations. After Nikki’s campaign responded that they might take money from lobbyists representing the medical marijuana industry, Wells Fargo closed her account.
More than 70% of Florida voters supported the medical cannabis ballot measure in the November 2016 election. Additionally, the decision by Wells Fargo to review a candidate’s campaign platform and pre-emptively make decisions about their business relationship with a client based on potential donations can have a negative impact on a candidate’s free speech and ability to campaign. This item allows the Board to consider whether to discontinue doing business with a financial institution that has defrauded its customers, implements policies which contradict the expressed will of the voters, and chills the advocacy platform of political candidates.
|