WASHINGTON (CN) - As members of the House Financial Services Committee compared him to a common bank robber and threatened to level RICO charges or worse against him, disgraced Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf offered another mea culpa for his role in the company's fraudulent banking practices.
"You screwed student loan holders, credit unions, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, mortgage holders, African Americans, Hispanics, healthcare workers, on and on and on," said Rep. Michael Capuano of Massachusetts.
"When prosecutors get a hold of you, you're going to have a lot of fun," the Democrat added, his voice echoing loudly throughout the chamber.
He then held up a photo of Robert Holmes, a man charged with robbing a Wells Fargo Bank in Lancaster, Pa., last year and stared squarely at Stumpf.
"Do you know this guy? He robbed your bank. He didn't use a weapon, but he got caught, they got all the money back and now he's in jail on $750,000 bail, Capuano said.
"You on the other hand have run an enterprise with a culture of corruption, encouraged subordinates to abuse existing customers, charged those victims illegal fees, interest and late charges, and then sent their accounts to collection agencies if they didn't pay," he said.
Capuano and several other committee members accused Stumpf of firing 5,300 people merely to cover his own tracks in the widespread mishandling of customer accounts.
"You and your entire leadership team are guilty of conspiracy to commit fraud, identity theft, racketeering and a dozen other crimes," Capuano told Stumpf pointedly. "But I still have one simple question: what the heck is the difference between you and Mr. Holmes? Why shouldn't you be in jail? He didn't use a gun, you got the money back and he said he was sorry. What's the difference? Why shouldn't you be in jail?"
Stumpf responded by repeatedly expressing his dismay over the behavior of branch employees who he blamed for the schemes that increased Wells Fargo profits at the expense of its own clientele.
The committee demanded to know why Stumpf did not stop the fraud earlier and, picking up the line of questioning that Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., pursued last week when the CEO appeared before the Senate Banking Committee, asked him why he did not stop bogus business practices that had been evident as far back as 2009.
Stumpf said that the bank is implementing a new set of best practices for its employees and operations, some of which will begin as early as Friday.
"We have announced the elimination of product sales goals for everyone in retail banking effective January 1, 2017, and we're accelerating the end of all product sales effective at the end of this week. Nothing should get in the way of doing what is right for our customers," Stumpf said.
Stumpf said the 164-year-old bank has also adopted of new policy of sending confirmation emails to customers within an hour of the opening of a Wells Fargo savings or checking account in their name, and of sending an acknowledgement letter after a customer applies for a credit card.
Stumpf said since last week's senate committee hearing, nearly 20,000 Wells Fargo account holders have been notified of bogus accounts or credit cards opened in their names and given the option to retain or surrender them.