Wells Fargo accused of new fake-accounts scam in lawsuit alleging racketeering, identity-fraud

Bernard “Jay” Patterson had never done business with Wells Fargo, so when he received a statement for a checking account in his name, he had questions. And as a forensic accountant and certified fraud examiner who has applied his expertise in numerous lawsuits — including several involving the San Francisco-based bank — he knew where to look for answers. A lawsuit Patterson filed Tuesday in California accuses Wells Fargo of creating fraudulent accounts for thousands of people, including many non-customers. Regulators fined the bank $3 billion in 2020 for creating millions of fake accounts to g...