Congressman Calling for Perp Walk for Wells Fargo CEO?
Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) CEO John Stumpf testified before the House Financial Services Committee on the bank’s retail business practices scandal. Rep. Michael Capuano, (D-Mass.), one of the Congressmen that grilled Stumpf discussed the scandal with the FOX Business Network’s Stuart Varney and weighed in on the potential legal fallout for the CEO.
When asked if he wants Stumpf to go to prison, Capuano responded, “I want people to be held responsible and this particular instance you have so many actions. I mean just as we were in the middle of the hearing yesterday, they got another $24 million fine for defrauding veterans.”
But Varney pressed him on the issue, asking, “It really sounded like you want to see that guy do a perp walk, I mean you do, don’t you? You want him to go to prison?”
To which Capuano replied, “I want people to be held responsible for their actions. I mean if somebody uses a gun, they get held responsible. If somebody doesn’t use a gun they should be held responsible too.”
Varney then listed some of the criminal charges that Stumpf could potentially face.
“You talked about charging him under the RICO statute, ID fraud, fraud, that’s what you talked about, those are criminal offenses, you go to prison for years for that. You want that?”
Although Capuano acknowledged those charges fit, he will leave it up to prosecutors to weigh the evidence.
“I want those issues to be on the table. I’m not a prosecutor. I’m not the guy who knows who’s guilty of what. But I certainly think that my limited laymen’s knowledge, those things are all fit.”
Varney then asked Capuano about concerns that members of the Financial Services Committee want to abolish cross selling by banks.
“It sounded yesterday as if you wanted to abolish it, a couple of other Congressmen wanted no more cross selling,” said Varney.
Although Capuano couldn’t speak for the members, he did not have an issue with cross selling.
“Well, that’s up to them. I don’t mind the concept of cross selling, like anything there are lines. This was not cross selling, this was doing things without people’s knowledge. Cross selling is an issue, where the lines should be, I don’t know, I think that’s fair, the concept doesn’t bother me.”