Fake accounts scandal deepens at Wells Fargo

An independent review of the US bank Wells Fargo has revealed that it opened 3.5 million accounts for customers who had not requested them.

Almost a year ago it emerged that the bank had been opening accounts without customers' permission, but the number was thought to be about two million.

Today's "eye-popping figure will likely hamper the bank's efforts to move beyond the nearly year-long scandal as lawmakers and regulators delve deeper into its inner workings and demand changes," the Washington Post reports.

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The review also found that 190,000 of the fake accounts had incurred fees and damages, and that 528,000 customers were signed up for online bill payment without their permission.

It prompted calls for new hearings into the scandal by both the Senate Banking Committee and the House Financial Services Committee, over concerns that former Wells chief executive John G. Stumpf (pictured above) had provided misleading information during congressional hearings last September.

"If Wells misled lawmakers in its responses last year, it may have violated a section of the United States Code [that] bars anyone from knowingly making materially false, fictitious or fraudulent statements or representations," the New York Times says.