$6.5M Settlement To Navajo Nation Over Wells Fargo's Unlawful Practices

Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N) will pay the Navajo Nation $6.5 million to settle a lawsuit over “predatory and unlawful practices” by the bank, the Native American tribe said on Thursday.

The Navajo Nation sued Wells Fargo in federal and tribal courts in 2017, alleging the San Francisco-based bank had opened unauthorized accounts for vulnerable tribe members as part of the potentially millions of fake accounts opened by bank employees nationwide.

The settlement “puts other companies on notice that harmful business practices against the Navajo people will not be tolerated,” Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez said in the statement, which referred to Wells Fargo’s “long campaign of predatory and unlawful practices.”

Wells Fargo said in a statement that the agreement demonstrates the bank’s “commitment to make things right regarding past sales practices issues.”