Wells Fargo exec who oversaw fake customer accounts scam gets $125 million golden parachute

Wouldn't it be nice to be axed from your job because you helped your employer get smacked with a massive $185 million fine -- and still walk away with a payday of $125 million?

Fortune reports that Carrie Tolstedt, the executive in charge of the Wells Fargo unit that opened more than 2 million phony customer accounts, leaves the bank with a $125 million golden parachute.

Tolstedt left the bank back in July, and the bank's official announcement of her departure made no mention of an impending settlement with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The CFPB last week fined Wells Fargo $185 million after its employees opened up more than 2 million deposit and credit card accounts without consumers' permission. The employees did this because it helped them meet their sales targets and receive bigger bonuses, the CFPB found.

"It is quite clear that [the actions of Tolstedt’s unit] are unfair and abusive practices under federal law," said CFPB chief Richard Cordray last week. "They are a violation of trust and an abuse of trust."

For its part, Wells Fargo tells Fortune that Tolstedt's departure had nothing to do with the impending settlement and was solely due to her desire to move on after spending the past 27 years with the bank.

All the same, given that Wells Fargo just fired thousands of workers in the wake of the scandal, it's fair to question whether the timing of her exit was a coincidence.