Criminal probe ordered for Wells Fargo bank
California’s attorney general is conducting a criminal investigation into whether employees at San Francisco-based Wells Fargo bank falsely identified themselves and stole identities in the sales practices scandal that rocked the bank and cost its CEO his job, documents released Wednesday show.
A search warrant and supporting affidavit released by the state Department of Justice show that agents sought evidence related to allegations that bank employees created up to 2 million bank and credit card accounts without customers’ approval in order to meet sales goals.
The warrant, first reported by the Los Angeles Times, was served Oct. 5 as Attorney General Kamala Harris runs for the U.S. Senate in next month’s election.
Copies obtained by The Associated Press under a public records request show her office sought the names of customers who had accounts opened without their permission, the names of employees who opened the accounts and their managers, and fees associated with the improperly opened accounts.
“We can’t comment on an ongoing investigation,” Kristin Ford, a spokeswoman for the attorney general, said in an email.
Wells Fargo spokesman Mark Folk said in an email that the bank is cooperating in providing the requested information.
Red Cross salutes Tennessee leaders
Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Randy Boyd received the Humanitarian Award from the American Red Cross of Southeast Tennessee on Wednesday.
Other award recipients recognized during the Red Cross luncheon Wednesday included Jeffrey Dews, a Brainerd High School senior; Chattanooga Police Department Officer Aaron Williams; Chattanooga Police Department Officer Zack Crawford; and U.S. Navy (Ret.) Capt. Mickey McCamish.
New York Times promotes publisher’s son as successor
The New York Times has named Arthur Gregg “A.G.” Sulzberger as deputy publisher, setting him up to take over for his father, publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr.
If made publisher, the 36-year-old Sulzberger would be the latest in a long line of family overseers. A.G. Sulzberger’s great-great-grandfather took over The Times in 1896, after he first started The Chattanooga Times, and the family controls the influential paper through a special class of shares.
The younger Sulzberger, who joined The Times in 2009 after working for Rhode Island and Oregon newspapers, has worked on the editorial side of the paper as a reporter and editor and has also led a team that studied how to tackle the digital transformation.
His appointment is effective Nov. 1. He will report to his father, who took over as publisher at age 40, in 1992, from his own father, Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, then 65.
Professors strike at 14 Pennsylvania universities
Professors at 14 state universities went on strike Wednesday, disrupting classes midsemester for more than 100,000 students after contract negotiations hit an impasse.
Members of the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties went on strike at 5 a.m. because no agreement was reached with the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. The union represents more than 5,000 faculty and coaches across the state.
This is the first strike in the system’s 34-year history. State-related schools – Penn State, Temple University, the University of Pittsburgh and Lincoln University – are not affected.
The state told students to report for their scheduled classes unless their schools indicated otherwise.
“We are headed to the picket lines, but even on the picket lines, our phones will be on, should the State System decide it doesn’t want to abandon its students,” union president Kenneth Mash said.