Navajo Nation Complaint

Case 1:17-cv-01219-JAP-SCY Document 1 Filed 12/12/17 Page 1 of 59
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

DISTRICT OF NEW MEXICO
NAVAJO NATION, a federally recognized Civ. Action No. 1:17-cv-1219

Indian Tribe, on its own behalf, by Ethel B.
Branch, Attorney General of the Navajo
Nation, and as parens patriae on behalf of the
Navajo people,
Plaintiff,
vs.
WELLS FARGO & COMPANY; WELLS

FARGO BANK, N.A.; and DOES 1-10,
Defendants.
COMPLAINT
Plaintiff Navajo Nation, a federally recognized Indian Tribe, by and through its Attorney
General, Ethel B. Branch, hereby files this Complaint against Defendants Wells Fargo & Company
and Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. (together, “Wells Fargo”), and alleges, upon information and belief,
facts that are a matter of public record, and investigation of counsel, including but not limited to
the review and analysis of pleadings and documents that are publicly available, the following:
SUMMARY OF ACTION
1. The Navajo Nation seeks relief from Wells Fargo’s widespread system of unfair,
deceptive, fraudulent and illegal practices. The Navajo Nation and its members entrusted Wells
Fargo with their finances and personal information. In return, Wells Fargo preyed on members of
the Navajo Nation, including Navajo elders, who are some of the Navajo Nation’s most vulnerable
citizens. Wells Fargo had a singular focus: it would exploit the trust of Navajo people who chose
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to bank with Wells Fargo in order to advance Wells Fargo’s profit interests. And Wells Fargo was
wildly successful. For years, Wells Fargo created unauthorized bank accounts; activated
unauthorized debit cards; pressured, cajoled and deceived Navajo elders; and enrolled Navajo
customers in online banking services without authorization.
2. Under intense pressure from superiors to grow sales figures, Wells Fargo
employees lied to Navajo consumers, telling elderly Navajo citizens who did not speak English
that in order to have their checks cashed, they needed to sign up for savings accounts they neither
needed nor understood. Wells Fargo representatives stalked local events like basketball games
and flea markets to sign up consumers for unnecessary accounts en masse, especially targeting
Navajo women who sold native crafts and products. They opened accounts for underage Navajo
citizens, going so far as to falsify birthdates to avoid obtaining necessary parental consent. And
Wells Fargo employees even strong-armed Navajo family members into signing up for Wells
Fargo products they did not need—all in an effort to satiate Wells Fargo’s desire for ever-
increasing account figures and profits.
3. In September 2016, shockwaves were sent across the United States when the
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) announced that for years, “Wells Fargo
employees secretly opened unauthorized accounts to hit sales targets and receive bonuses.”
According to the CFPB, Wells Fargo engaged in illegal banking practices by creating fake
accounts and signing customers up for online banking services, without customers’ knowledge or
consent.
4. After Wells Fargo’s improper and illegal practices came to light, Wells Fargo
assured the Navajo Nation and its people that they had not been part of the classes of consumers
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affected. Specifically, in January 2017, Wells Fargo falsely claimed that “there has been no impact
from Wells Fargo’s improper sales practices, as outlined by the Consumer Finance [sic] Protection
Bureau, to the Navajo Nation community. No Tribal community members in Arizona or New
Mexico were harmed, and no Wells Fargo team members who worked at bank branches located
on Navajo Nation lands were terminated.” The Navajo Nation now knows Wells Fargo’s
representations were untrue and were simply an attempt to lull the Navajo Nation away from
pursuing recourse.
5. The Navajo Nation learned only recently that, contrary to Wells Fargo’s express
representation, since at least 2009 and continuing through 2016, Wells Fargo employees at
branches on the Navajo Nation routinely opened unauthorized savings and credit accounts, misled
customers into opening unnecessary accounts, obtained debit cards without customers’ consent,
and enrolled customers in online banking without proper consent. What’s more, Wells Fargo and
its employees specifically targeted elderly members of the Navajo Nation, who often did not speak
or read English and who were particularly susceptible to Wells Fargo’s unlawful practices. On
information and belief, Navajo consumers were exploited and deceived, and subjected to a
multitude of hardships including monthly fees, late fees, debt collection, and negative credit
reporting. These unlawful business practices were in service of Wells Fargo’s goal to maximize
the number of banking products that each customer enrolled in, without regard for meaningful
consent.
6. Wells Fargo’s relentless focus on sales led to Wells Fargo placing unrealistic sales
goals on its employees. The pressure created by these unrealistic goals inevitably drove employees
to engage in illegal and fraudulent behavior. Wells Fargo’s managers and executives either
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encouraged or turned a blind eye to these illegal practices, and to the protection of its Navajo
customers, for the sake of increased sales and higher profits.
7. The Navajo Nation seeks restitution, disgorgement, actual and punitive damages,
costs, attorneys’ fees, civil penalties, and injunctive relief to address the considerable harms to the
Navajo Nation’s members caused by Wells Fargo’s unfair, fraudulent, and illegal business
practices.
THE PARTIES
A. The Plaintiff
8. The Navajo Nation is a federally-recognized Indian tribe with a sovereign
governing body recognized by the Secretary of the Interior. The Navajo Nation’s headquarters is
located in Window Rock, Arizona.
B. The Defendants
9. Defendant Wells Fargo & Company is incorporated in Delaware with its principal
place of business in San Francisco, California. According to Wells Fargo & Company’s public
filings, it is a “diversified financial services company” that provides “retail, commercial and
corporate banking services through banking locations and offices, the internet and other
distribution channels to individuals, businesses, and institutions” nationwide. Wells Fargo &
Company has approximately 269,100 full-time employees, and is ranked 25th on Fortune
Magazine’s 2017 rankings of America’s 500 largest corporations. Wells Fargo & Company holds
roughly $1.9 trillion in assets.
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10. Defendant Wells Fargo Bank, National Association (“Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.”) is,
and at all times relevant hereto was, a national banking association chartered under the laws of the
United States, with its primary place of business in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and its headquarters
in San Francisco, California. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. is Wells Fargo & Company’s principal
subsidiary.
11. Defendants John/Jane Does 1-10 (the “Doe Defendants”) are persons whose
identities are currently unknown to the Navajo Nation. On information and belief, the Doe
Defendants were the agents and/or principals of Defendants Wells Fargo & Company and Wells
Fargo Bank, N.A., and they did take part in the unfair and unlawful sales practices set forth below,
to the detriment of the Navajo Nation and its members. The Navajo Nation will amend this
complaint to add the true names and identities of the Doe Defendants when they become known.
JURISDICTION
12. This Court has jurisdiction over this action because the action is brought under a
“Federal consumer financial law,” 12 U.S.C. § 5565(a)(1) and presents a federal question, 28
U.S.C. § 1331. The Attorney General is authorized to enforce Federal consumer financial law by
12 U.S.C. § 5552(a).
13. This Court has supplemental jurisdiction over the Navajo Nation’s state-law and
tribal-law claims because they are so related to the federal claims that they form part of the same
case or controversy. 28 U.S.C. § 1367(a).
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VENUE
14. Venue is proper in the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico
under 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b).
GENERAL ALLEGATIONS
15. Wells Fargo is one of the “Big Four Banks” of the United States and in 2015, it was
reported to be the bank with the largest market value worldwide. Wells Fargo is the predominant
provider of banking services to the Navajo Nation, operating five branches across the Navajo
Nation, in the following locations: Kayenta, AZ; Tuba City, AZ; Chinle, AZ; Window Rock, AZ;
and Shiprock, NM. In addition, Wells Fargo has a number of branches within roughly one half-
hour’s drive of the reservation, including one branch in Bloomfield, NM; three branches in
Farmington, NM; one branch in Gallup, NM; one branch in Holbrook, AZ; five branches in
Flagstaff, AZ; and one branch in Blanding, UT. Each of these branches serves members of the
Navajo Nation.
A. Wells Fargo’s Nationwide Unlawful Business Practices
16. On September 8, 2016, the CFPB and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
(“OCC”) announced that they had reached Consent Orders with Wells Fargo based on a
widespread scheme of illegal and unfair business practices that included (a) opening unauthorized
deposit accounts for existing customers and transferring funds to those accounts from customers’
original accounts, without their knowledge or consent; (b) submitting credit card applications using
customer information without customers’ consent; (c) enrolling customers in online banking
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services they did not request; and (d) ordering and activating debit cards using customers’
information without their knowledge or consent.
17. Wells Fargo encouraged these activities in service of its goal to increase the average
number of “solutions” per account holder or “household.” Wells Fargo used the term “solutions”
to refer to products or sales that would satisfy an employee’s daily sales quota. “Solutions”
included opening new banking accounts and credit card accounts, issuing debit cards, and enrolling
customers in online banking.
18. Wells Fargo’s business model is premised on getting customers to maintain
multiple accounts. A brochure published by Wells Fargo entitled “The Vision & Values of Wells
Fargo,” emphasizes “Going for gr-eight.” According to the brochure, “Our average retail banking
household has about six products with us. We want to get to eight … and beyond.” Under this
“Eight is Great” program, “retail banking households” were defined as households that used at
least one of the following retail products: deposit accounts, savings accounts, savings certificates,
individual retirement accounts (“IRAs”), certificates of deposit, personal lines of credit, personal
loans, home equity lines of credit, or home equity loans. The “Eight is Great” program was critical
to Wells Fargo achieving its financial goals.
19. Between 2012 and 2016, Wells Fargo & Company reported in its Annual Reports
and Form 10-Q filings that its retail banking households averaged over six products per household
(the average for banks overall was three). Wells Fargo & Company’s 2012 third quarter 10-Q
touted that their “retail bank household cross-sell ha[d] increased each quarter since the beginning
of 2011[.]” But this was apparently not enough: the 10-Q went on to state that “there is more
opportunity for cross-sell . . . [o]ur goal is eight products per customer[.]” This success and
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continued push towards increasing growth came at a price; it was achieved through aggressive
sales quotas and heightened incentives that ultimately pushed Wells Fargo employees to cross the
line and engage in illegal, fraudulent and deceptive means to reach the quotas. Wells Fargo &
Company executives knew of these practices and continued to perpetuate the highly pressurized
sales culture at Wells Fargo. They could have taken steps to change the practices (by, for example,
modifying employee incentives). They did not do so. Instead, they reaped financial rewards from
the escalating sales figures as Wells Fargo’s unlawful practices continued unabated.
20. To meet its goal of selling a high number of “solutions” to each consumer, Wells
Fargo implemented strict and unreasonable sales quotas and established an incentivized
compensation structure that emphasized sales of multiple “solutions” per consumer. Wells Fargo
implemented quotas regulating the number of daily “solutions” its bankers must reach. Employees
were under intense pressure to meet their goals. If employees did not meet these quotas, they were
required to enter a counseling program and were subject to firing, demotion, and daily or
sometimes twice-daily reporting calls to explain their lack of sales.
21. Employees operated in a cutthroat sales environment. Branch managers were
subjected to a constant barrage of emails, visits, and up to five calls per day with their district
managers. District managers told branch managers that they were to hit their metrics, no matter
what it took. As a result, branch managers held daily meetings or “huddles” with employees to
discuss sales quotas. In some instances, employees reported that managers took hourly inventory
of the number of sales each banker was achieving throughout the day. Employees who did not
meet quotas were subject to ridicule, as well as demeaning and verbally abusive reviews by
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management. Employees were forced to work longer hours and deterred from taking vacation if
they did not meet their quotas.
22. The sales quotas placed on employees were often not attainable through traditional
means. The intense sales pressure, fear of losing their jobs, and incentive compensation structure
predictably incentivized Wells Fargo employees to use alternative means to reach sales quotas.
This pressure was all the more intense for employees on the Navajo Nation where unemployment
rates reach 42%.
23. This sales pressure originated at Wells Fargo’s executive level and trickled down
to the district managers, who tolerated and even encouraged illegal and fraudulent acts by
employees in order to meet their sales numbers. Some managers encouraged employees to open
accounts for family members in order to meet sales quotas. Wells Fargo’s pressure-filled
environment encouraged employees to resort to unfair and illegal tactics (internally referred to as
“gaming”) to increase their sales and meet quotas.
24. At Wells Fargo, unfair tactics, including (a) bundling, (b) pinning, and
(c) sandbagging were well known and widely practiced.
a. In the practice of “bundling,” consumers are told that the account they want can
only be obtained with the purchase of additional accounts or products, when in fact
the account they want is available on its own.
b. In what is known as “pinning,” a Wells Fargo employee obtains a debit card
number and assigns a PIN without customer authorization. By using this PIN,
employees can enroll consumers in online banking, which is considered a
“solution” and results in a sales credit.
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c. The practice of “sandbagging” involved delaying the opening of an account or
processing of a sale, without customers’ knowledge. In the month of December,
for example, employees routinely stockpiled new accounts or sales and waited until
January to process them. Customers who inquired as to why their accounts were
not open were given false explanations such as computer system failures or
technical problems.
25. Wells Fargo employees also made misrepresentations to customers in order to
induce them into opening new accounts. These included:
a. Telling customers that they would incur monthly fees on their checking accounts if
they did not add savings accounts;
b. Informing customers that they would be sent a credit card, but that they could
simply destroy the card if it was unwanted. Customers were led to believe that this
was sufficient to terminate the account - it was not;
c. Misrepresenting that accounts did not have fees when in fact they did;
d. Obtaining customer signatures on forms that employees represented were related
to existing accounts but in fact were used to open additional accounts without
customers’ knowledge or consent.
26. These illegal practices were pervasive. It was initially revealed that Wells Fargo
opened as many as 2.1 million accounts without customer authorization since 2011. However, in
a regulatory filing with the SEC on August 4, 2017, Wells Fargo stated that there could be a
“significant increase in the identified number of potentially unauthorized accounts” as it
expands its review period. On August 31, 2017, Wells Fargo announced that a third-party review
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examining records back to 2009 had turned up an additional 1.4 million potentially fake accounts,
increasing the total to 3.5 million. The third-party review also determined that 528,000 Wells
Fargo customers had been enrolled in online bill pay without their consent.
B. September 2016 CFPB Consent Order
27. On September 8, 2016, the CFPB entered into a Consent Order finding that Wells
Fargo Bank, N.A. had violated the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 (“CFPA”) by:
a. Opening unauthorized deposit accounts for existing customers and transferring
funds to those accounts from the customers’ other accounts;
b. Submitting applications for credit cards in customers’ names using customers’
information without their knowledge or consent;
c. Enrolling customers in online-banking services that they did not request; and
d. Ordering and activating debit cards using customers’ information without their
knowledge or consent.
28. According to the Consent Order, Wells Fargo’s analysis concluded that Wells
Fargo employees had opened 1,534,280 deposit accounts that may not have been authorized and
that may have been funded through simulated funding. Roughly 85,000 of those accounts incurred
about $2 million in fees. Wells Fargo employees also submitted applications for 565,443 credit
card accounts that may not have been authorized, and 14,000 of those accounts incurred more than
$400,000 in fees.
29. The CFPB found that Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.’s practices violated the CFPA’s ban
on unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices, see 12 U.S.C. § 5536(a)(1). Based on these
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findings, the CFPB ordered Wells Fargo to retain an independent consultant to conduct a review
of its sales practices (the “Independent Consultant’s Review”) and issue a report (the “Independent
Consultant’s Report”). The CFPB also ordered Wells Fargo to develop a plan (the “Compliance
Plan”) to correct any deficiencies identified by the Independent Consultant’s Report and to
implement any recommendations from that report. Wells Fargo is required to submit the
Compliance Plan to the CFPB for approval.
30. The CFPB also levied a $100 million civil penalty on Wells Fargo for its unlawful
sales practices and ordered it to segregate $5 million for redressing consumers affected by those
sales practices. The Consent Order requires Wells Fargo to develop and implement a
comprehensive written plan for redress (the “Redress Plan”). The Redress Plan is required to
identify all affected consumers and any fees or charges those consumers were issued. On
information and belief, the Redress Plan demonstrates that members of the Navajo Nation are
among those affected by Wells Fargo’s unlawful sales practices and have incurred fees and charges
due to those practices—contrary to Wells Fargo’s explicit representations to the Navajo Nation.
C. Wells Fargo’s Internal Report
31. Due to the widespread public pressure regarding the sales misconduct, in April
2017, Wells Fargo & Company’s Board of Directors received a Sales Practice Investigation Report
(the “Sales Report”) that analyzed the severity of the unlawful sales practices.
32. The Sales Report substantiated many of the reported claims about Wells Fargo’s
unfair practices. It found that Wells Fargo leaders set sales goals that were unattainable by design
and then pushed those goals down to retail branches, creating intense pressure to perform and
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incentivizing local and regional managers to impose excessive pressure on their subordinates.
Because good performance for Wells Fargo employees was “deemed in large part to mean meeting
or exceeding sales goals, and poor performance in many instances led to shaming or worse, many
employees believed that their future at Wells Fargo depended on how many products they sold.”
33. According to Wells Fargo’s own report, specific Wells Fargo practices that
incentivized sales misconduct included:
a. “Motivator” reports
Wells Fargo issued daily and monthly “Motivator” reports that included sales
rankings down to the retail bank district level. So much emphasis was placed on
sales rankings and “Motivator” reports that managers “lived and died” by the
reports. The reports perpetuated a culture of shaming and sales pressure and had to
be discontinued in 2014.
b. Retail scorecards
Wells Fargo generated “retail scorecards” that measured how an employee or
manager was performing compared to the sales plan. These reports were updated
on a daily basis, and employees were actively encouraged to check them often.
Managers made meeting scorecard requirements their sole objective—a tactic
called “managing to the scorecard.” Employees reporting to those managers were
constantly pressured to meet scorecard goals.
c. Sales campaigns
The Sales Report found that regional bank-wide sales campaigns—like a program
called “Jump into January”—were “closely associated with increasing misconduct
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over time.” “Jump into January” in particular became a “breeding ground for bad
behavior that helped cement the sales culture’s negative characteristics”;
employees were encouraged to make lists of family and friends who might be
potential “Jump into January” sales targets and would “sandbag” (temporarily
withhold) December account openings until January to meet objectives. Although
Wells Fargo ultimately replaced “Jump into January” with a new campaign—
“Accelerate”—the Sales Report described some witnesses as feeling that
“Accelerate” was a “mere ‘name change’ from the Jump into January campaign.”
34. Incentivized to pad sales numbers, Wells Fargo managers often affirmatively
directed misconduct on the part of individual employees. Branch managers were “frequently
cited” as “actively directing misconduct or offering inappropriate guidance to subordinates on
what constituted acceptable conduct.” As a result, individual employees resorted to unlawful or
otherwise improper sales practices, including:
a. Simulated funding, where an employee transferred funds from one account to
another, sometimes unauthorized, account to make it appear that the second account
had been “funded” by a customer;
b. Falsifying customer identification or contact information;
c. Forging customer signatures;
d. Opening unauthorized personal checking or savings accounts for existing
customers; and
e. Creating unnecessary accounts that served no customer financial need.
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35. The Sales Report noted that these improper sales practices “tended to
disproportionately cluster” in Los Angeles and Arizona, where senior bankers were associated
with “extreme pressure,” sometimes calling subordinates several times a day to check in on sales
performance and chastising those who failed to meet sales objectives.
36. Simulated funding in particular was clustered in Arizona and California—the two
“epicenters” of the practice. The Sales Report determined that Arizona had one of the two highest
volumes of potential simulated funding accounts, and the third highest volume of simulated
funding accounts on a per-employee basis.
37. Wells Fargo subsequently determined that regional banking managers in Southern
California and Arizona had “encouraged and deployed especially improper and excessive sales
practices” in an effort to inflate Wells Fargo’s sales figures.
38. One of those individuals was Pam Conboy, Arizona Regional Banking’s leader
from 2007 to 2017. Ms. Conboy drove Arizona from last place to first in regional sales
performance within two years of taking her position by employing intense sales pressure and a
very heavy emphasis on rankings and sales performance. In Arizona, branches, including those
on the Navajo Nation, would hold daily “morning huddles;” the “Jump into January” rally program
was extended into other months (hence, “Fly into February,” “March into March,” etc.); and
district managers would call to check on branches multiple times a day. Conboy was held up as a
model for success, and other regional leaders were sent to study her leadership techniques. Conboy
was an involved executive and told the Arizona Republic that she had “visited every [Wells Fargo]
store in Arizona, sometimes two or three times” during her tenure.
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39. According to the Sales Report, Wells Fargo associated sales practice violations with
perverse sales incentives as early as 2004, but the problems continued growing. Leadership was
“unwilling to make fundamental changes” to Wells Fargo’s sales model, and there was widespread
“insufficient appreciation of the impact of, or harm caused by, sales practice misconduct.” Very
little attention was paid to whether Wells Fargo’s sales practices were hurting customers; instead,
the focus remained on Wells Fargo’s bottom line. This failure led to Wells Fargo management’s
remarkable view that “firing 1% of the Community Bank workforce every year for sales integrity
violations was acceptable.”
40. This nonchalance extended to others in Wells Fargo’s management. Even after
Wells Fargo was sued by the Los Angeles City Attorney, its Law Department remained focused
on Wells Fargo’s bottom line—likely damages, fines, penalties, and restitution. It “did not
appreciate that sales integrity issues reflected a systemic breakdown in Wells Fargo’s culture and
values and an ongoing failure to correct the widespread breaches of trust in the misuse of
customers’ personal data and financial information.” Wells Fargo consistently put its own interests
ahead of customers’ in an effort to contain or minimize the sales practices scandal.
41. Ultimately the Sales Report determined that the sales practices failures were a
consequence of the combination of (1) a distorted sales culture and performance management
system and (2) aggressive sales management.
42. Alarmingly, the problems were worsened by Wells Fargo leaders who resisted and
impeded outside scrutiny or oversight and minimized the scale and nature of the problem. Wells
Fargo & Company’s CEO and Chairman, John Stumpf, was the “principal proponent and
champion” of Wells Fargo’s cross-sell and sales culture; he “spoke frequently on [cross-selling’s]
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importance.” Stumpf’s devotion to those practices led him—and Wells Fargo & Company—to
“stand back” and “minimize problems” with Wells Fargo’s sales practices, even in the face of
“growing indications that the situation was worsening and threatened substantial reputational harm
to Wells Fargo.” Stumpf publicly supported Wells Fargo’s sales goals and pushed lower managers
to “work to increase cross-sell when strong growth proved more elusive.” Stumpf ultimately
acknowledged to Congress that Wells Fargo employees had provided customers with products
they did not want or need, and he accepted full responsibility for all unethical sales practices in
Wells Fargo & Company’s retail banking business. Stumpf resigned in the wake of the scandal,
forfeiting more than $40 million in compensation. (Once the misconduct came to light, Wells
Fargo subsequently moved to claw back more than $28 million more it had paid Stumpf.) Wells
Fargo & Company’s Board of Directors also terminated five senior executives.
D. Wells Fargo’s Unlawful Sales Practices on the Navajo Nation and Targeting
of Navajo Elders
43. Former Wells Fargo employees have confirmed that many of the unlawful practices
described above occurred on the Navajo Nation. Discovery in this action is likely to confirm that
Navajo people were subjected to each of the broader set of practices described above, and that
Navajo people were targeted because of their race or age. On information and belief, members of
the Navajo Nation were harmed by those practices.
44. Wells Fargo is often the only banking choice for Navajo people living on the
Navajo Nation. For this reason, the Navajo Nation’s citizens are particularly vulnerable to Wells
Fargo’s unlawful sales practices. Additionally, some Navajo customers do not have the financial
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sophistication to fully comprehend the services and products being offered. Wells Fargo sales
personnel knew this and failed to obtain the legitimate, meaningful consumer consent that is
necessary to open accounts and enroll consumers in products or services.
45. According to former Wells Fargo employees, employees at branches on or near the
Navajo Nation were subject to the same high-pressure sales environment that led to dishonest
practices elsewhere. Sales quotas for the branches in or around the Navajo Nation were just as
high as those in large market branches in cities such as Flagstaff that have much larger populations
and economies. In an effort to meet unrealistic goals, managers at those branches held “huddles”
each morning and evening where sales personnel received and reviewed daily sales goals. Pressure
on individual employees to meet or exceed sales goals was extremely intense, and employees
understood that their employment with Wells Fargo was in jeopardy if they did not aggressively
push additional products on consumers—whether or not those products were necessary. This
threat was particularly potent due to high rates of unemployment on the Navajo Nation.
46. Pressure on individual Wells Fargo employees was also heightened by regional
managers’, district managers’, branch managers’ and lead tellers’ actions. District managers had
twice-daily teleconferences with branch managers to discuss sales goals, and branches competed
against each other and were ranked on a statewide basis. Thus, branch managers were under
pressure to not only meet sales goals, but to surpass them, so that their branch could be ranked at
the top. This immense pressure trickled down to other bank employees. Lead tellers would
frequently stand behind tellers during customer interactions to ensure that a teller was marketing
Wells Fargo’s products sufficiently aggressively. Employees were also subject to “pack goals,”
meaning that they were required to cross-sell a certain number of products to each customer;
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products that qualified for meeting “pack goals” included multiple checking and savings accounts,
debit cards, and online banking. On information and belief, if employees did not meet the pack
goals, they were required to develop a plan to do so and follow-up with the customer. Furthermore,
tellers who failed to sell debit cards, credit cards, or mortgage loans received marks against them.
47. Employees’ sales performance was tracked, continuously monitored, scrutinized
and reviewed. Employees who did not meet their sales quotas were placed on “counseling” and
subject to a review plan. If an employee did not show improvement, a corrective action plan was
implemented and ultimately, the employee was subject to termination.
48. Unsurprisingly, given the extraordinary pressure Wells Fargo exerted on its sales
personnel, those personnel engaged in the same unlawful and fraudulent sales practices that were
rampant elsewhere. They routinely opened unauthorized accounts, misled customers into opening
unnecessary accounts, and signed consumers up for online banking without proper consent. Sales
personnel would frequently wait until after customers had left the store to open new accounts for
them, and would then do so in the customers’ absence.
49. On information and belief, these tactics were particularly effective at branches on
or near the Navajo Nation because Wells Fargo’s sales personnel were able to focus their unlawful
sales practices on elderly members (“elders”) of the Navajo Nation and those who do not speak
English and/or are unfamiliar with banking services. These individuals were unlikely to
understand the difference between multiple accounts, making them prime targets for Wells Fargo’s
unlawful sales tactics. Elders were also among the least likely customers to have any legitimate
financial need for multiple Wells Fargo accounts, as they often had a fixed income and did not
have computer access to manage different accounts. As elders visited the bank primarily to cash
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their checks, they were not typically interested in establishing bank accounts; the Navajo Nation
operates largely as a cash-carrying society and elders do not have a need for traditional banking
products. Seizing on Navajo elders’ relative lack of financial sophistication, Wells Fargo sales
employees often insisted that elders open different savings accounts for car payments, utility
payments, food, and other routine expenses. On information and belief, this practice multiplied
the incidence of unlawful fees, as elders who did not understand their money was divided among
several accounts would empty or overdraw a single account, not comprehending why so much of
their money appeared unavailable to them.
50. Wells Fargo sales personnel also took advantage of the fact that many Navajo elders
could not speak English or write their names. Sales personnel who could speak Navajo used their
language skills to build camaraderie with elders and other non-English speakers. On information
and belief, Navajo elders and native speakers traveled—sometimes significant distances—to
branches such as Kayenta and Chinle where they knew the sales personnel could speak Navajo.
Employees built this camaraderie in an effort to ultimately open as many accounts as possible,
inflate their branches’ sales figures, and keep their jobs. They also capitalized on Navajo elders’
confusion or uncertainty when it came to complicated financial documents. On information and
belief, sales personnel would refuse to release elders’ money to them unless the elders signed up
for additional accounts. Many elders were unable to sign their names in English, so Wells Fargo
sales personnel would have the elders apply a thumbprint—with the teller acting as a witness—to
open new accounts. Elders were commonly asked to sign documents they did not understand to
open accounts they did not need.
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51. On information and belief, when elders came into Wells Fargo branches on or near
the Navajo Nation (including at branches in Kayenta, Chinle, and Window Rock) and wanted to
withdraw money or cash a check quickly, Wells Fargo sales personnel would sometimes use the
customers’ haste as an opportunity to sell solutions. Sales personnel would, in effect, hold the
elders’ money hostage until the sales personnel were able to sell unnecessary financial products.
On information and belief, when sales personnel were rushing to sell products quickly, they would
frequently forego adequately explaining the nature of the product or the effect of the customer’s
consent, instead reassuring customers—especially elders—they had already received the necessary
explanations, even though those explanations had never been provided. Once again, Wells Fargo
sales personnel would use their familiarity with the Navajo language to gain—and then abuse—
the trust of Navajo elders.
52. Alarmingly, the pressure to meet sales quotas was so great that Wells Fargo sales
personnel were encouraged to take advantage of their own Navajo family members, opening
multiple accounts for them without obtaining proper consent or misrepresenting the nature of
forms to them in order to obtain signatures. On information and belief, when Wells Fargo sales
personnel were “behind” on their sales, they would furiously attempt to identify family members
who could be easily duped into opening unnecessary accounts. If family members questioned the
need for multiple savings accounts, sales personnel assured them that the accounts could be closed
at any time, while in reality, tellers were not authorized to close accounts, and whenever a request
to close an account was received, it was escalated to a different Wells Fargo employee tasked with
persuading the consumer to leave the unnecessary account open. Navajo customers relied on these
misrepresentations, to their detriment.
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53. Wells Fargo sales personnel at branches on or near the Navajo Nation also targeted
Navajo youth. When Navajo high schoolers obtained summer jobs and brought paychecks in to
Wells Fargo to be cashed, Wells Fargo sales personnel would insist that the youths open multiple
accounts, all under the guise of “learning money management.” In fact, on information and belief,
sales personnel’s impetus for pressuring young Navajo citizens into opening unnecessary accounts
was to meet or exceed unreasonable sales quotas imposed by Wells Fargo. Appallingly, Wells
Fargo internal records show that sales personnel at branches on or near the Navajo Nation opened
unauthorized accounts for minors without consent in order to make sales quotas. On information
and belief, sales personnel went to such extremes as to falsify a minors’ dates of birth in order to
open an account without requisite parental consent.
54. On information and belief, Wells Fargo sales personnel also targeted proprietors of
Navajo small businesses. Sales personnel would go to flea markets to encourage vendors to open
unnecessary accounts. Elderly women selling Navajo products or crafts were particularly
promising targets; because many could not read, they could be easily conned into opening accounts
that they did not need or understand.
55. Sales personnel were also encouraged to go offsite to solicit customers. Sales
personnel went to places where Navajo citizens were likely to congregate—like local basketball
games—to obtain batches of signatures for new accounts. On information and belief, during these
offsite campaigns to obtain signed account applications, sales personnel issued PINs at the offsite
location and with those PINs, subsequently enrolled customers in online banking without their
consent.
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56. On information and belief, between at least 2009 and 2016, specific unlawful sales
practices that occurred at branches on or near the Navajo Nation (such as Kayenta and Chinle)
included opening unnecessary and/or unauthorized debit card accounts, “bundling,”
misrepresenting the nature or amount of fees, misrepresenting the meaning or effect of particular
forms, misleading customers to believe that checks could not be cashed without opening an
account, misleading consumers about how to terminate accounts, and enrolling consumers in
online banking without their permission. Issuing unauthorized debit cards and enrolling customers
in online banking without their permission were particularly straightforward and, on information
and belief, were widespread. Sales personnel, including bankers and tellers, even creating email
addresses for Navajo elders in order to sign them up for online banking, something that they did
not need and would not be able to access going forward.
57. The limited internal records that Wells Fargo produced to the Navajo Nation
confirm the information provided to the Navajo Nation by former Wells Fargo employees.
Unlawful practices revealed in the documents include sales personnel: (1) fabricating email
addresses, falsifying information, and assigning PINs to customer accounts, outside of the
customer’s presence, in order to enroll customers in online banking without their knowledge;
(2) opening hundreds of accounts without customer signatures, contrary to Wells Fargo policy;
(3) opening accounts for individuals without their consent; and (4) opening credit card accounts
that went unused and were later closed, indicating that credit cards were either issued without
consent or were issued to those who did not need or want them. The documents show that these
unlawful practices occurred between (at least) 2011 and 2016 and happened at branch locations in
or around the Navajo Nation, such as Kayenta, Arizona and Gallup, New Mexico. In addition,
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Wells Fargo’s records show that it was difficult to reach customers on the Navajo Nation during
an investigation, as Navajo people living on the Navajo Nation may change their phone numbers
often. On information and belief, rather than attempting to reach these customers in another
manner, Wells Fargo closed internal investigations after speaking to only a handful of customers,
allowing bad behavior to go unreported.
58. Wells Fargo employees’ attention remained unfailingly focused on meeting Wells
Fargo’s unreasonable sales goals, not on meeting their customers’ legitimate financial needs.
59. Wells Fargo’s sales practices worked significant injury to Navajo people, and those
people were not able to reasonably avoid that injury—often because Wells Fargo employees
worked to conceal their wrongdoing. In addition, Wells Fargo’s tactics produced no benefits to
consumers or to competition that outweigh the many harms they worked to Navajo people. Navajo
consumers who had virtually no other banking options trusted and relied on Wells Fargo to act in
their interests and deal fairly with them. Wells Fargo betrayed that trust to advance its bottom line.
E. Targeting of Native Americans
60. The Navajo Nation is not the only place where Native Americans were targeted by
Wells Fargo’s unlawful sales tactics. Indeed, former Wells Fargo employees have stated in sworn
statements that they were told to target Native Americans.
61. Ricky Hansen Jr., a former Wells Fargo branch manager in Arizona, said in his
declaration that was filed as a part of the In Re Wells Fargo & Company Derivative Litigation, that
the bank pushed credit card accounts on local Native Americans who went to Wells Fargo branches
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to cash tribal checks. He “witnessed employees taking advantage of our local Native Indian
Community.” Among the things that Hansen witnessed:
 “Bankers and tellers began to promise to waive the check-cashing fees if the Indian
Community members opened a new account. Once the employees opened the new
account, they would turn that one account into the 8 required by the ‘Great Eight’
program. . . . This tactic of capitalizing on the Indian Community members’ check
cashing resulted in almost 400 new accounts for the store each day they came into
[sic] cash their checks.”
 “[I]n the weeks following each check-cashing day, the Indian community members
would flood the store with complaints about unwanted accounts, debit and credit
cards they did not order, over-drafted accounts and account fees for accounts they
never requested.”
62. On information and belief, and as set forth above, members of the Navajo Nation
were similarly subjected to Wells Fargo’s illegal, unfair and deceptive practices.
F. Wells Fargo’s Knowledge of Illegal Practices and Inadequate Monitoring or
Internal Controls
63. Wells Fargo knew, or should have known, that its employees were opening
unauthorized accounts and engaging in the unlawful business practices described herein.
64. The CFPB and OCC Consent Orders reached with Wells Fargo revealed a massive
and pervasive scheme of illegal sales practices and a far-reaching, systemic breakdown in Wells
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Fargo’s corporate governance. Wells Fargo’s senior managers incentivized illegal behavior that
permeated not only the retail banking division but also the consumer lending division.
65. Despite Wells Fargo’s knowledge of these widespread illegal practices, it did little,
if anything, to terminate these practices. Instead, it maintained an aggressive sales environment
that fostered such practices. In fact, some employees who raised concerns regarding the illegal
and fraudulent sales practices were fired.
66. The Navajo Nation has learned, through interviews of former employees at Wells
Fargo branches on the Navajo Nation, that unethical and unlawful activities were reported to Wells
Fargo’s ethics line. According to these former employees, they were never contacted after making
an initial call to the ethics line. Even when Wells Fargo’s internal investigations group followed
up on a complaint, that group’s practice was to call the customer associated with the complaint in
order to substantiate the claim. However, Wells Fargo acknowledged in its own internal records
that phone numbers used on the Navajo Nation are changed frequently and thus, it was difficult, if
not impossible, to substantiate many of the complaints originating on the Nation. Wells Fargo
used this inability to reach customers as an excuse for not pursuing the complaints, and complaints
were often written off as unsubstantiated. Without customer substantiation, which Wells Fargo
knew would be difficult to obtain on the Navajo Nation, Wells Fargo in effect allowed its
employees to continue their unlawful activities to the detriment of Navajo consumers.
67. Only in the aftermath of the scandal that erupted in 2016 did Wells Fargo take
substantial corrective actions and terminate approximately 5,300 employees.
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G. Wells Fargo’s Misrepresentations To The Navajo Nation To Lull The Navajo
Nation Into Thinking Neither It Nor The Navajo People Were Impacted
68. Upon hearing of the widespread unlawful sales practices occurring at Wells Fargo,
the Navajo Nation reached out to Wells Fargo with concerns about how those practices may have
affected members of the Navajo Nation.
69. On January 3, 2017, Aaron Lemke, a Vice President at Wells Fargo, delivered a
letter to the Navajo Nation’s Budget and Finance Committee (“BFC”). Mr. Lemke’s letter, which
is attached as Exhibit 1, indicated that Wells Fargo “values its relationship” with the Navajo Nation
and was endeavoring to “rebuild the trust of Native American Peoples.”
70. As to the improper sales practices at issue, Mr. Lemke wrote,
First, let me assure you that there has been no impact from Wells Fargo’s improper sales
practices, as outlined by the Consumer Finance [sic] Protection Bureau, to the Navajo
Nation community. No Tribal community members in Arizona or New Mexico were
harmed, and no Wells Fargo team members who worked at bank branches located on
Navajo Nation lands were terminated.
71. As the Navajo Nation subsequently discovered, this representation was false. Wells
Fargo’s internal investigation records reveal that unlawful sales practices occurred at branches on
the Navajo Nation. On information and belief, Wells Fargo’s unlawful sales practices spread to
its branches on the Navajo Nation, and Mr. Lemke lied to the Navajo Nation in an effort to cover
it up. Recently, in the clearest indication that Wells Fargo lied to the Navajo Nation about the
extent of its unlawful sales practices, Wells Fargo has begun sending notices of a pending
nationwide class action to affected Navajo citizens.
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72. Wells Fargo made the foregoing misrepresentations in an effort to lull the Navajo
Nation into not investigating Wells Fargo’s conduct as to the Navajo Nation’s citizens or pursuing
claims against Wells Fargo. Due to Wells Fargo’s deliberate misrepresentations, and its
inducement of the Navajo Nation’s reliance, the Navajo Nation still has not been able to fully
investigate the scope of Wells Fargo’s wrongdoing on or near the Navajo Nation. The Navajo
Nation has diligently investigated Wells Fargo’s wrongdoing to the extent of its capabilities, but
its efforts have been thwarted by Wells Fargo’s fraudulent concealment of its unlawful sales
practices. Given Wells Fargo’s misrepresentations and intransigence, no additional amount of
reasonable diligence on the Navajo Nation’s part would have uncovered the breadth and details of
Wells Fargo’s unlawful practices on or near the Navajo Nation.
73. Indeed, Wells Fargo’s January 2017 misrepresentations to the Navajo Nation were
only the latest episode in a years-long campaign by Wells Fargo to conceal its unlawful sales
practices—and the harm those practices were causing to Navajo people. The Navajo Nation could
not have uncovered Wells Fargo’s misconduct prior to Wells Fargo’s affirmative
misrepresentations regarding Wells Fargo’s sales practices.
H. Wells Fargo’s Illegal and Fraudulent Practices Caused Harm to the Navajo
Nation and its Members
74. The Navajo Nation and its members have been harmed in numerous ways by Wells
Fargo’s practices. On information and belief, Wells Fargo’s Navajo customers have suffered from:
(a) monthly service charges on unauthorized accounts, (b) unauthorized accounts being placed into
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collection, and (c) damage to their credit reports. Additionally, Navajo consumers were not aware
of these unauthorized accounts and did not receive the disclosures required by Federal law.
75. The harm to the Navajo people from Wells Fargo’s unlawful and unfair practices
is particularly acute because Wells Fargo is the only national bank that services the Navajo
Nation’s geographic area. Navajo people cannot easily switch banking options to avoid Wells
Fargo’s unfair sales tactics; indeed, many members of the Navajo Nation are required to travel
considerable distances even to bank at the nearest Wells Fargo branch. Members of the Navajo
Nation are therefore especially exposed and vulnerable to predatory sales tactics like those
undertaken by Defendants, and those sales tactics have worked harm not just to a significant
number of Navajo people, but to the Navajo Nation as an independent whole. The Navajo Nation’s
own interest in the economic welfare of its people has been jeopardized by Defendants’ practices
described herein, and the Navajo Nation has been forced to expend significant funds to investigate
Wells Fargo’s wrongdoing and protect its citizens.
76. On information and belief, members of the Navajo Nation have repeatedly been
exposed to unlawful and unmerited fees assessed on accounts they did not open or otherwise
authorize. These fees have enriched Wells Fargo at the expense of individuals who were targeted
by opportunistic sales personnel because of their race, age, or lack of financial sophistication.
ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY
77. Title X of the Dodd Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, or the
CFPA, 12 U.S.C. § 5481 et seq., vests States with the power to enforce federal consumer protection
law.
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78. The Navajo Nation is a “State” under the CFPA. 12 U.S.C. § 5481(27).
79. The Navajo Nation is empowered to enforce the provisions of the CFPA, other
federal consumer protection laws, and certain regulations prescribed by the CFPB. 12 U.S.C.
§ 5552.
CLAIMS BROUGHT BY THE NAVAJO NATION
FIRST CLAIM FOR RELIEF
(VIOLATIONS OF 12 U.S.C. § 5536(a)(1)(B) AGAINST WELLS FARGO & COMPANY

AND DOES 1-10, BY THE NAVAJO NATION IN ITS OWN CAPACITY)
(UNFAIR ACTS AND PRACTICES)
80. The Navajo Nation incorporates by reference the allegations in all preceding
paragraphs of this Complaint as though fully set forth herein.
81. Defendants all engage in offering or providing consumer financial products and
services and are therefore “covered persons” under the meaning of the CFPA. 12 U.S.C.
§ 5481(6)(A); 12 U.S.C. § 5536(a)(1).
82. The CFPA prohibits a covered person from committing or engaging in any “unfair
. . . act or practice” in connection with any transaction with a consumer for a consumer financial
product or service or with the offering of a consumer financial product or service. 12 U.S.C.
§ 5531; 12 U.S.C. § 5536.
83. An act or practice is “unfair” if it causes, or is likely to cause, substantial injury to
consumers which is not reasonably avoidable by consumers and which injury is not outweighed
by countervailing benefits to consumers or to competition. 12 U.S.C. § 5531(c).
84. Defendants committed unfair acts and practices, in violation of 12 U.S.C.
§ 5536(a)(1)(B). As set forth above, these practices have included:
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a. opening deposit accounts without proper customer authorization;
b. issuing debit cards and PINs without proper customer authorization;
c. enrolling customers in online banking without authorization, and creating fake
email addresses in order to do so.
85. Each of these practices has caused, and is likely to continue to cause, substantial
injury to Navajo consumers that was not reasonably avoidable by those consumers, including
monthly fees, late fees, debt collection, and negative credit reporting. Such injuries are not
outweighed by any countervailing benefits to consumers or to competition.
SECOND CLAIM FOR RELIEF

(ABUSIVE ACTS AND PRACTICES)
87. The CFPA prohibits a covered person from committing or engaging in any “abusive
. . . act or practice” in connection with any transaction with a consumer for a consumer financial
product or service or with the offering of a consumer financial product or service. 12 U.S.C.
§ 5531; 12 U.S.C. § 5536.
88. An act or practice is “abusive” if it materially interferes with the ability of a
consumer to understand a term or condition of a consumer financial product or service, or takes
unreasonable advantage of a consumer’s (a) lack of understanding of the material risks, costs, or
conditions of the product or service, (b) inability to protect his or her own interests in selecting or
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using a consumer financial product or service, or (c) reasonable reliance on a covered person to
act in the consumer’s interests. 12 U.S.C. § 5531(d).
89. Defendants committed abusive acts and practices, in violation of 12 U.S.C.
§ 5536(a)(1)(B). As set forth above, these practices have included:
a. targeting unsophisticated Navajo consumers with unfair sales practices, including
elders, craftswomen, and young people;
b. stalking local events to sign up Navajo consumers for batches of accounts en masse;
c. strong-arming Wells Fargo employees’ family members into signing up for
unnecessary accounts, or taking advantage of family relationships to create those
accounts without authorization;
d. taking advantage of Navajo consumers’ lack of English language ability and
unfamiliarity with financial products and services to sell unnecessary products; and
e. using the Navajo language to build a false camaraderie with Navajo consumers, all
for the purpose of cross-selling additional products.
90. Each of the above sales practices materially interfered with the ability of Navajo
consumers to understand the terms and conditions of Defendants’ consumer financial products and
services. The practices also took unreasonable advantage of Navajo consumers’ lack of
understanding of the material risks, costs, or conditions of Defendants’ products and services,
those consumers’ inability to protect their own interests in selecting financial products and
services, and those consumers’ reasonable reliance on Wells Fargo & Company to act in their
interests. On information and belief, Navajo consumers were harmed by these practices, including
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by being assessed with unmerited fees, suffering harm to their credit reports, and becoming subject
to debt collection procedures.
THIRD CLAIM FOR RELIEF

(DECEPTIVE ACTS AND PRACTICES)
92. The CFPA prohibits a covered person from committing or engaging in any
“deceptive . . . act or practice” in connection with any transaction with a consumer for a consumer
financial product or service or with the offering of a consumer financial product or service. 12
U.S.C. § 5531; 12 U.S.C. § 5536.
93. Defendants committed deceptive acts and practices, in violation of 12 U.S.C. §
5536(a)(1)(B).
94. As set forth above, between at least 2009 and 2016, Defendants undertook the
following deceptive acts and practices:
a. materially misrepresenting to consumers whether an account was fee-bearing;
b. falsely telling consumers that they were required to sign up for new accounts in
order to avoid fees on existing accounts;
c. lying to consumers about whether they were required to open additional accounts
in order to cash checks;
d. “bundling,” or informing consumers that certain products could only be acquired
together, when in fact they were available separately;
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e. “sandbagging,” or delaying account openings into time periods that were more
advantageous for a Wells Fargo employee;
f. misrepresenting to consumers how credit card accounts could be closed, including
telling those consumers that merely destroying an unwanted card closed an account
or that tellers were themselves authorized to close accounts;
g. misrepresenting whether authorization forms were for new accounts or existing
accounts;
h. creating fake email accounts for consumers to enroll them in online banking; and
i. falsifying birthdates of consumers to enroll them in unnecessary accounts.
95. Navajo consumers reasonably relied on these misrepresentations, to their detriment.
On information and belief, these deceptive practices caused those consumers damages, in the form
of fees, negative credit reporting, and debt collection procedures.
FOURTH CLAIM FOR RELIEF
(VIOLATIONS OF 12 U.S.C. § 5536(a)(1)(A) AGAINST WELLS FARGO & COMPANY

97. Defendants all engage in offering or providing consumer financial products and
services and are therefore “covered persons” under the meaning of the CFPA. 12 U.S.C.
§ 5481(6)(A); 12 U.S.C. § 5536(a)(1).
98. It is unlawful under the CFPA for a covered person to “offer or provide to a
consumer any financial product or service not in conformity with Federal consumer financial law,
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or to otherwise commit any act or omission in violation of a Federal consumer financial law[.]”
12 U.S.C. § 5536(a)(1)(A).
99. The CFPA defines “Federal consumer financial law” as meaning:
a. the provisions of the CFPA;
b. any of eighteen so-called “enumerated consumer laws,” including: the Equal Credit
Opportunity Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1691 et seq.; the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, 15
U.S.C. § 1693 et seq.; the Truth in Lending Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1601 et seq.; the Fair
Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq.; and the Truth in Savings Act, 12
U.S.C. § 4301 et seq.;
c. certain other laws for which authority was transferred to the CFPB;
d. rules implementing the CFPA;
e. rules implementing the enumerated consumer laws; and
f. rules implementing the other laws for which authority was transferred to the CFPB.
12 U.S.C. § 5481(14).
100. On information and belief, Defendants violated Federal consumer financial law,
and therefore 12 U.S.C. § 5536(a)(1)(A), by violating the enumerated consumer laws and certain
of those laws’ implementing regulations, as follows:
Equal Credit Opportunity Act and Regulation B
101. The Equal Credit Opportunity Act (“ECOA”) makes it “unlawful for any creditor
to discriminate against any applicant, with respect to any aspect of a credit transaction . . . on the
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basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex or marital status, or age[.]” 15 U.S.C.
§ 1691(a)(1).
102. ECOA is implemented by 12 C.F.R. Part 1002 (“Regulation B”). ECOA and
Regulation B are both “Federal consumer financial law[s]” for the purposes of the CFPA. 12
U.S.C. § 5481(14); 12 U.S.C. § 5536(a)(1)(A).
103. Regulation B prohibits creditors from discriminating “against an applicant on a
prohibited basis regarding any aspect of a credit transaction.” 12 C.F.R. § 1002.4.
104. Defendants qualify as “creditors” pursuant to 12 C.F.R. § 1002.2(l).
105. Members of the Navajo Nation’s status as Native Americans is a “prohibited basis”
pursuant to 12 C.F.R. § 1002.2(z).
106. Age is a “prohibited basis” pursuant to 12 C.F.R. § 1002.2(z).
107. On information and belief, and as set forth above, Defendants did discriminate
against members of the Navajo Nation based on their race, regarding an aspect of a credit
transaction. They did so by targeting Native Americans, because of their race, with unauthorized
credit card accounts. These actions violated ECOA and Regulation B. 15 U.S.C. § 1691(a)(1); 12
C.F.R. § 1002.4.
against members of the Navajo Nation based on their age, regarding an aspect of a credit
transaction, in violation of 12 C.F.R. § 1002.4. They did so by targeting elderly and young Navajo
people, because of their age, for unauthorized credit card accounts. These actions violated ECOA
and Regulation B. 15 U.S.C. § 1691(a)(1); 12 C.F.R. § 1002.4.
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109. These violations of ECOA and Regulation B constitute violations of the CFPA, 12
U.S.C. § 5536(a)(1)(A), for which the Nation can recover against Wells Fargo & Company and
the Doe Defendants pursuant to 12 U.S.C. § 5552(a)(1).
Electronic Funds Transfer Act and Regulation E
110. The Electronic Funds Transfer Act (“EFTA”) provides that “[n]o person may issue
to a consumer any card, code, or other means of access to such consumer’s account for the purpose
of initiating an electronic fund transfer other than” “in response to a request or application therefor”
or “as a renewal of” or “substitution for” “an accepted card, code, or other means of access[.]” 15
U.S.C. § 1693i(a). Only when (1) such means of access are “not validated,” (2) certain disclosures
are made to a consumer, and (3) the means of access is subsequently validated with upon
verification of the consumer’s identity, may a person issue a means of access absent a consumer
request. 15 U.S.C. § 1693i(b).
111. EFTA is implemented by 12 C.F.R. Part 1005 (“Regulation E”). EFTA and
Regulation E are both “Federal consumer financial law[s]” for the purposes of the CFPA. 12
U.S.C. § 5481(14); 12 U.S.C. § 5536(a)(1)(A).
112. Regulation E similarly provides that financial institutions may only issue an “access
device” to a consumer in response to “an oral or written request for the device” or as a “renewal
of, or in substitution for, an accepted access device.” 12 C.F.R. § 1005.5(a). Regulation E defines
“access device” as meaning “a card, code, or other means of access to a consumer’s account, or
any combination thereof, that may be used by the consumer to initiate electronic fund transfers.”
12 C.F.R. § 1005.2(a)(1).
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113. Defendants qualify as “financial institutions” under Regulation E. 12 C.F.R.
§ 1005.2(i).
114. On information and belief, Defendants issued validated access devices, including
debit cards and PINs, to one or more members of the Navajo Nation without those individuals
having submitted an oral or written request for the devices, and without those devices constituting
renewals of, or substitutions for, accepted access devices, in violation of 15 U.S.C. § 1693i(b) and
12 C.F.R. § 1005.5(a).
115. These violations of EFTA and Regulation E constitute violations of the CFPA, 12
Truth in Lending Act and Regulation Z
116. The Truth in Lending Act (“TILA”) provides that “[n]o credit card shall be issued
except in response to a request or application therefor.” 15 U.S.C. § 1642.
117. TILA is implemented by 12 C.F.R. Part 1026 (“Regulation Z”). TILA and
Regulation Z are both “Federal consumer financial law[s]” for the purposes of the CFPA. 12
U.S.C. § 5481(14); 12 U.S.C. § 5536(a)(1)(A).
118. Regulation Z provides that “no credit card shall be issued to any person except” in
response to “an oral or written request or application for the card,” or as a “renewal of, or substitute
for, an accepted credit card.” 12 C.F.R. § 1026.12(a).
119. On information and belief, Defendants did issue credit cards to members of the
Navajo Nation without those individuals having submitted an oral or written request or application
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for the cards, and without those cards constituting renewals of, or substitutes for, an accepted credit
card, in violation of 15 U.S.C. § 1642 and 12 C.F.R. § 1026.12(a).
120. These violations of TILA and Regulation Z constitute violations of the CFPA, 12
Fair Credit Reporting Act
121. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”) defines the circumstances in which a
consumer reporting agency may furnish a consumer credit report. 15 U.S.C. § 1681b(a).
122. Each time that Defendants open a new credit card account, they obtain, review, and
use a consumer credit report about the consumer for whom the account is opened in order to assess
the consumer’s creditworthiness for a new credit product.
123. Wells Fargo agreed and represented to the consumer reporting agencies from which
it obtains consumer credit reports that it would obtain and use consumer reports which were
procured from said agencies only for purposes which are lawful under the Fair Credit Reporting
Act as defined under 15 U.S.C. § 1681b.
124. Defendants were required by 15 U.S.C. §§ 1681b and 1681q to refrain from
obtaining or using consumer credit reports from CRAs under false pretenses, and without proper
authorization from the consumer who is the subject of the report.
125. Defendants have an affirmative duty to follow reasonable procedures, including
those that would prevent the impermissible accessing of consumer credit reports. 15 U.S.C.
§ 1681b(f).
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126. On information and belief, despite these clear and unambiguous requirements of
the FCRA, Defendants regularly pull consumer credit reports regarding Navajo consumers without
their knowledge or consent in order to open new credit card accounts as part of its cross-selling
practices, in violation of FCRA.
127. These violations of the FCRA constitute violations of the CFPA, 12 U.S.C.
§ 5536(a)(1)(A), for which the Nation can recover against Wells Fargo & Company and the Doe
Defendants pursuant to 12 U.S.C. § 5552(a)(1).
Regulation DD
128. The Truth in Savings Act (“TISA”) is implemented by 12 C.F.R. Part 1030
(“Regulation DD”). Regulation DD is a “Federal consumer financial law” for the purposes of the
CFPA. 12 U.S.C. § 5481(14); 12 U.S.C. § 5536(a)(1)(A).
129. Regulation DD requires that depository institutions “provide account disclosures to
a consumer before an account is opened or a service is provided, whichever is earlier.” 12 C.F.R.
§ 1030.4(a)(1)(i).
130. Defendant Wells Fargo & Company, and on information and belief, the Doe
Defendants, qualify as “depository institutions” pursuant to 12 C.F.R. § 1030.2(j).
131. On information and belief, Defendant Wells Fargo & Company and the Doe
Defendants failed to provide account disclosures to members of the Navajo Nation before accounts
were opened or services were provided on behalf of those individuals, in violation of 12 C.F.R.
§ 1030.4(a)(1)(i).
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132. These violations of Regulation DD constitute violations of the CFPA, 12 U.S.C.
§ 5536(a)(1)(A), for which the Nation can recover against Wells Fargo & Company and the Doe
Defendants pursuant to 12 U.S.C. § 5552(a)(1).
FIFTH CLAIM FOR RELIEF
(VIOLATIONS OF 12 U.S.C. § 5536(a)(3) AGAINST WELLS FARGO & COMPANY AND

DOES 1-10, BY THE NAVAJO NATION IN ITS OWN CAPACITY)
(SUBSTANTIAL ASSISTANCE TO A COVERED PERSON’S VIOLATIONS OF
FEDERAL CONSUMER FINANCIAL LAW AND UNFAIR, ABUSIVE, AND DECEPTIVE
ACTS AND PRACTICES)
paragraphs of this Complaint as though fully set forth herein, with specific reference to paragraphs
9, 19, and 31-42.
134. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. engages in offering or providing consumer financial
products and services and is therefore a “covered person” under the meaning of the CFPA. 12
U.S.C. § 5481(6)(A); 12 U.S.C. § 5536(a)(1).
135. The CFPA prohibits any person from knowingly or recklessly providing substantial
assistance to any covered person in violation of the CFPA, and provides that “the provider of such
substantial assistance shall be deemed to be in violation . . . to the same extent as the person to
whom such assistance is provided.” 12 U.S.C. § 5536(a)(3).
136. Defendant Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. violated Federal consumer financial law, and
thereby violated the CFPA, as set forth in paragraphs 16-62, 96-132, and 138-66. Wells Fargo
Bank, N.A. also violated the CFPA by committing those same unfair, abusive, and deceptive acts
or practices that are described in paragraphs 77-95.
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137. Wells Fargo & Company provided substantial assistance to Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
in Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.’s violations of Federal consumer financial law and unfair, abusive, and
deceptive acts or practices. On information and belief, Wells Fargo & Company controlled,
directed, and promoted Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.’s sales practices, and ignored warning signs
regarding those practices’ effects on consumers. Wells Fargo & Company touted cross-selling
practices, both in public filings and in other public statements, and subsequently accepted
responsibility for those practices before Congress and in internal reports. On information and
belief, Wells Fargo & Company’s substantial assistance to Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. was knowing
or reckless.
SIXTH CLAIM FOR RELIEF
(VIOLATIONS OF THE EQUAL CREDIT OPPORTUNITY ACT, 15 U.S.C. § 1691 ET SEQ.

AND REGULATION B, 12 C.F.R. PART 1002, AGAINST ALL DEFENDANTS, BY THE
NAVAJO NATION IN ITS CAPACITY AS PARENS PATRIAE)
139. ECOA makes it “unlawful for any creditor to discriminate against any applicant,
with respect to any aspect of a credit transaction . . . on the basis of race, color, religion, national
origin, sex or marital status, or age[.]” 15 U.S.C. § 1691(a)(1).
140. Regulation B likewise prohibits creditors from discriminating “against an applicant
on a prohibited basis regarding any aspect of a credit transaction.” 12 C.F.R. § 1002.4.
141. Defendants qualify as “creditors” pursuant to 12 C.F.R. § 1002.2(l).
142. Members of the Navajo Nation’s status as Native Americans is a “prohibited basis”
pursuant to 12 C.F.R. § 1002.2(z).
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143. On information and belief, as set forth above, Defendants did discriminate against
members of the Navajo Nation based on their race, regarding an aspect of a credit transaction, in
violation of 12 C.F.R. § 1002.4 and 15 U.S.C. § 1691(a)(1). Defendants did so by targeting Navajo
people, because of their race, for unauthorized credit card accounts.
144. Age is a “prohibited basis” pursuant to 12 C.F.R. § 1002.2(z).
against members of the Navajo Nation based on their age, regarding an aspect of a credit
transaction, in violation of 12 C.F.R. § 1002.4 and 15 U.S.C. § 1691(a)(1). Wells Fargo Bank,
N.A. did so by targeting elderly and young Navajo people, because of their age, for unauthorized
credit card accounts
146. On information and belief, members of the Navajo Nation were damaged by
Defendants’ unlawful discrimination in the amount of the fees assessed on the unauthorized credit
cards issued by Defendants to members of the Navajo Nation and in the amount of damage suffered
to those individuals’ credit reports. Members of the Navajo Nation also suffered emotional distress
due to Defendants’ violations of ECOA and Regulation B.
147. On information and belief, the foregoing violations’ frequency and persistence,
combined with Defendants’ willful ignorance of their extent, justifies an award of punitive
damages.
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SEVENTH CLAIM FOR RELIEF
(VIOLATIONS OF THE ELECTRONIC FUNDS TRANSFER ACT, 15 U.S.C. § 1693 et seq.,

AND REGULATION E, 12 C.F.R. PART 1005, AGAINST ALL DEFENDANTS, BY THE
NAVAJO NATION IN ITS CAPACITY AS PARENS PATRIAE)
149. EFTA provides that “[n]o person may issue to a consumer any card, code, or other
means of access to such consumer’s account for the purpose of initiating an electronic fund transfer
other than” “in response to a request or application therefor” or “as a renewal of” or “substitution
for” “an accepted card, code, or other means of access[.]” 15 U.S.C. § 1693i(a). Only when such
means of access are “not validated” and certain disclosures are made to a consumer may a person
issue a means of access absent a request. 15 U.S.C. § 1693i(b).
150. Regulation E likewise provides that financial institutions may only issue an “access
device” to a consumer in response to “an oral or written request for the device” or as a “renewal
of, or in substitution for, an accepted access device.” 12 C.F.R. § 1005.5(a).
151. The only exception to this rule is that a financial institution may issue an access
device to a consumer “on an unsolicited basis” if the access device is “not validated,” is
accompanied by clear explanations regarding validation, and is ultimately validated only upon
verification of the consumer’s identity. 12 C.F.R. § 1005.5(b).
152. Defendants qualify as “financial institutions” under Regulation E. 12 C.F.R.
§ 1005.2(i).
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153. Regulation E defines “access device” as meaning “a card, code, or other means of
access to a consumer’s account, or any combination thereof, that may be used by the consumer to
initiate electronic fund transfers.” 12 C.F.R. § 1005.2(a)(1).
154. On information and belief, Defendants issued validated access devices, including
debit cards and PINs, to one or more members of the Navajo Nation without those individuals
having submitted an oral or written request for the devices, and without those devices constituting
renewals of, or substitutions for, accepted access devices, in violation of 12 C.F.R. § 1005.5(a)
and 15 U.S.C. § 1693i(b). On information and belief, these access devices were either validated
at the time they were issued to consumers or were subsequently validated without “verification of
the consumer’s identity” or the disclosures mandated by 15 U.S.C. § 1693i(b).
EIGHTH CLAIM FOR RELIEF
(VIOLATIONS OF THE TRUTH IN LENDING ACT, 15 U.S.C. § 1601 et seq., AND

REGULATION Z, 12 C.F.R. PART 1026, AGAINST ALL DEFENDANTS, BY THE NAVAJO
NATION IN ITS CAPACITYAS PARENS PATRIAE)
156. TILA provides that “[n]o credit card shall be issued except in response to a request
or application therefor.” 15 U.S.C. § 1642.
157. Regulation Z likewise provides that “no credit card shall be issued to any person
except” in response to “an oral or written request or application for the card,” or as a “renewal of,
or substitute for, an accepted credit card.” 12 C.F.R. § 1026.12(a).
158. On information and belief, Defendants did issue credit cards to members of the
Navajo Nation without those individuals having submitted an oral or written request or application
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for the cards, and without those cards constituting renewals of, or substitutes for, an accepted credit
card, in violation of 15 U.S.C. § 1642 and 12 C.F.R. § 1026.12(a).
NINTH CLAIM FOR RELIEF
(VIOLATIONS OF THE FAIR CREDIT REPORTING ACT, 15 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq.,

AGAINST ALL DEFENDANTS, BY THE NAVAJO NATION IN ITS CAPACITY
AS PARENS PATRIAE)
160. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”) defines the circumstances in which a
consumer reporting agency (“CRA”) may furnish a consumer credit report. 15 U.S.C. § 1681b(a).
161. Each time that Defendants open a new credit card account, they obtain, review, and
use a consumer credit report about the consumer for whom the account is opened in order to assess
the consumer’s creditworthiness for a new credit product.
162. Wells Fargo agreed and represented to the CRAs from which it obtains consumer
credit reports that it would obtain and use consumer reports which were procured from said
agencies only for purposes which are lawful under the Fair Credit Reporting Act as defined under
15 U.S.C. § 1681b.
163. Defendants were required by 15 U.S.C. §§ 1681b and 1681q to refrain from
obtaining or using consumer credit reports from CRAs under false pretenses, and without proper
authorization from the consumer who is the subject of the report.
164. Defendants have an affirmative duty to follow reasonable procedures, including
those that would prevent the impermissible accessing of consumer credit reports. 15 U.S.C.
§ 1681b(f).
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165. On information and belief, despite these clear and unambiguous requirements of
the FCRA, Defendants regularly pull consumer credit reports regarding Navajo consumers without
their knowledge or consent in order to open new credit card accounts as part of their cross-selling
practices, in violation of FCRA.
166. Pursuant to sections 1681n and 1681o, Defendant is liable for negligently and
willfully violating the FCRA by accessing the credit reports of consumers without a permissible
purpose or authorization under FCRA.
TENTH CLAIM FOR RELIEF
(VIOLATIONS OF THE NEW MEXICO UNFAIR PRACTICES ACT AGAINST ALL

DEFENDANTS, BY THE NAVAJO NATION IN ITS CAPACITY AS PARENS PATRIAE)
168. The New Mexico Unfair Practices Act, NM Stat § 57-12-1 et seq., provides that
“[u]nfair or deceptive trade practices and unconscionable trade practices in the conduct of any
trade or commerce are unlawful.”
169. Defendants’ foregoing actions constitute unfair, deceptive, and/or unconscionable
trade practices under the meaning of New Mexico law.
170. On information and belief, Defendants’ violations of the New Mexico Unfair
Practices Act were willful, so as to justify an award of treble damages.
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ELEVENTH CLAIM FOR RELIEF
(VIOLATIONS OF THE ARIZONA CONSUMER FRAUD ACT AGAINST ALL

DEFENDANTS, BY THE NAVAJO NATION IN ITS CAPACITY AS PARENS PATRIAE)
172. The Arizona Consumer Fraud Act, A.R.S. § 44-1522 et seq., prohibits a variety of
deceptive and fraudulent practices in connection with the sale or advertisement of merchandise or
products. The Act specifically provides:
The act, use or employment by any person of any deception, deceptive or unfair act or
practice, fraud, false pretense, false promise, misrepresentation, or concealment,
suppression or omission of any material fact with intent that others rely on such
concealment, suppression or omission, in connection with the sale or advertisement of any
merchandise whether or not any person has in fact been misled, deceived or damaged
thereby, is declared to be an unlawful practice.
173. As set forth herein, Defendants violated the Arizona Consumer Fraud Act by
making false and misleading statements to consumers regarding Defendants’ financial products,
and by failing to obtain consumers’ consent to open financial accounts.
174. Wells Fargo’s deceptive statements regarding its financial products were material
misstatements and/or omissions that led consumers to believe that they were required to sign up
for products, when in fact this was not the case. Between at least 2009 and 2016, Wells Fargo
sales personnel misrepresented the nature of customers’ accounts, the effect or meaning of
particular forms, and/or the necessity of opening an account prior to being able to cash a check.
Navajo customers relied on these misstatements and/or omissions.
175. Navajo consumers were exposed to Wells Fargo’s unfair, deceptive, and/or
unlawful practices of opening accounts without the consumers’ knowledge and/or consent. On
information and belief, between 2009 and 2016, Wells Fargo sales personnel at branches on or
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near the Navajo Nation opened accounts without customer consent or customer signatures, and
enrolled consumers in online banking without their permission. Wells Fargo sales personnel
created fake email addresses, falsified information and assigned PINs to customer accounts in
order to enroll customers in online banking without their knowledge.
176. As a result of Wells Fargo’s actions, Navajo consumers have suffered monetary
loss due to service charges, collections and damage to credit reports. The members of the Navajo
Nation are particularly affected by Wells Fargo’s deceptive and fraudulent tactics because of their
lack of banking options on the Nation. Navajo members are especially vulnerable and their
economic welfare has been jeopardized by these practices.
177. On information and belief, Defendants’ violations of the Arizona Consumer Fraud
Act were wanton or reckless, or exhibited a reckless indifference to the interests of others, so as to
justify the imposition of punitive damages.
TWELFTH CLAIM FOR RELIEF
(FRAUD AGAINST ALL DEFENDANTS, BY THE NAVAJO NATION IN ITS OWN

CAPACITY)
4 and 68-73.
179. On information and belief, Defendants materially misrepresented whether the
Wells Fargo account scandal had affected members of the Navajo Nation.
180. As discussed above, on January 3, 2017, Aaron Lemke, a Vice President at Wells
Fargo, delivered a letter to the Navajo Nation’s BFC. In his letter, Mr. Lemke assured the Nation
that “there has been no impact from Wells Fargo’s improper sales practices, as outlined by the
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Consumer Finance [sic] Protection Bureau, to the Navajo Nation community. No Tribal
community members in Arizona or New Mexico were harmed, and no Wells Fargo team members
who worked at bank branches located on Navajo Nation lands were terminated.” The Nation
subsequently discovered that Mr. Lemke’s representations regarding Wells Fargo’s improper sales
practices on the Nation were false.
181. These assurances were made in an effort to dissuade the Navajo Nation from
investigating the effect of Wells Fargo’s sales practices on its citizens. Despite the Navajo
Nation’s diligent efforts, Wells Fargo’s fraudulent concealment of its wrongdoing has prevented
the Navajo Nation from obtaining a full understanding of the nature and extent to which Wells
Fargo’s unlawful sales practices affected the Navajo Nation’s citizens.
182. On information and belief, Defendants’ material misrepresentations were made
with the intent to induce the Navajo Nation to rely thereon, and the Navajo Nation did in fact rely
thereon. Defendants’ misrepresentations have damaged the Navajo Nation in an amount to be
proven at trial.
THIRTEENTH CLAIM FOR RELIEF
(FRAUD AGAINST ALL DEFENDANTS, BY THE NAVAJO NATION IN ITS CAPACITY

AS PARENS PATRIAE)
2, 5, 22-30, 34, 48-57, and 94-95.
184. Wells Fargo’s conduct, as described above, occurred between at least 2009-2016 in
branches on or around the Navajo Nation, and included opening accounts (including debit cards
and online banking) without customer consent or knowledge; opening accounts without customer
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signatures; opening credit card accounts that went unused and were later closed (indicating that
credit cards were either issued without consent or were issued to those who did not need or want
them); and making material representations to Navajo people regarding the requirements for check
cashing, the effect of opening accounts, the nature of authorization paperwork, or the procedure
for closing accounts.
185. Defendants failed to inform members of the Navajo Nation that accounts and credit
lines were being opened on their behalf without their authorization. Those individuals were
therefore led to believe that each of their accounts with Wells Fargo was authorized, which was in
fact untrue.
186. On information and belief, Defendants made the foregoing material representations
and omissions with the intent to deceive members of the Navajo Nation and to induce them to rely
on that deception. In fact, members of the Navajo Nation did rely on the deception to their
detriment: because they were unaware of the unauthorized accounts, they were unable to close
them and avoid fees and penalties. Due to Defendants’ fraud, members of the Navajo Nation
suffered damages in the amount of those fees and penalties and in an additional amount to be
proven at trial, which the Nation can recover as parens patriae.
FOURTEENTH CLAIM FOR RELIEF
(CONVERSION AGAINST ALL DEFENDANTS, BY THE NAVAJO NATION IN ITS

CAPACITY AS PARENS PATRIAE)
188. By assessing fees and penalties on fraudulently opened accounts, by moving funds
among accounts without authorization, and by withholding funds from members of the Nation in
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order to meet time-sensitive sales targets, Defendants unlawfully exercised dominion and control
over personal property belonging to members of the Navajo Nation or otherwise engaged in an
unauthorized and injurious use of those members’ property.
189. Defendants are accordingly liable to the Navajo Nation, as parens patriae, for
conversion.
FIFTEENTH CLAIM FOR RELIEF
(UNJUST ENRICHMENT AGAINST ALL DEFENDANTS, BY THE NAVAJO NATION IN

ITS CAPACITY AS PARENS PATRIAE)
191. As a result of Defendants’ unlawful and deceptive actions described above,
Defendants were enriched at the expense of the Navajo Nation and its members through the
payment of fees, penalties, and other charges resulting from accounts, products, and services that
Wells Fargo unlawfully and/or deceptively sold to or opened for customers.
192. Under these circumstances, due to Defendants’ unfair, unlawful, and deceptive acts
and practices, it would be against equity and good conscience to permit Defendants to retain the
ill-gotten benefits that they received from members of the Navajo Nation.
SIXTEENTH CLAIM FOR RELIEF
(VIOLATIONS OF THE NAVAJO NATION UNFAIR CONSUMER PRACTICES

ACT AGAINST ALL DEFENDANTS, BY THE NAVAJO NATION IN ITS CAPACITY
AS PARENS PATRIAE)
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194. The Navajo Nation Unfair Consumer Practices Act, N.N.C. § 1101 et seq., provides
that “[u]nfair or deceptive trade practices and unconscionable trade practices in the conduct of any
trade or commerce are unlawful.”
195. The unfair, deceptive, and illegal practices described above constitute unfair,
deceptive, and unconscionable trade practices under the Navajo Nation Unfair Consumer Practices
Act.
196. Upon information and belief, for the purpose of calculating the Nation’s recovery,
Defendants willfully engaged in the foregoing unfair, deceptive, and unconscionable acts.
SEVENTEENTH CLAIM FOR RELIEF
(DECLARATORY RELIEF AGAINST ALL DEFENDANTS)
198. The Navajo Nation is entitled to a declaration that Defendants’ practices violate
Federal consumer financial law and state and tribal unfair trade practices law.
199. The Navajo Nation is entitled to a declaration that Defendants’ violations of the
foregoing Federal consumer financial law and state and tribal unfair trade practices laws were
reckless, willful, and/or knowing for the purpose of calculating the Nation’s recovery.
PRAYER FOR RELIEF
WHEREFORE, the Navajo Nation requests that this Court enter an order and judgment:
1) Against Defendants, for restitution; disgorgement; actual, treble, statutory, and
punitive damages; costs; attorneys’ fees; and civil penalties, in an amount to be
determined at trial;
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2) Against Defendants, enjoining Defendants from further violations of the
foregoing consumer protection laws; and
3) Against Defendants, declaring their conduct unlawful.
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JURY DEMAND
Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 38(b), Plaintiff demands a trial by jury.
Dated: December 12, 2017 Respectfully submitted,
NAVAJO NATION
/s/ Jana C. Werner_____________

Jana C. Werner
Assistant Attorney General
Navajo Nation Department of Justice
Office of the Attorney General
P.O. Box 2010
Window Rock, AZ 86515
Email: jwerner@nndoj.org
Telephone: (928) 871-6210
Facsimile: (928) 871-6177
Ethel Branch (pro hac vice pending)

Attorney General
Navajo Nation Department of Justice
Office of the Attorney General
P.O. Box 2010
Window Rock, AZ 86515
Email: ebranch@nndoj.org
Telephone: (928) 871-6210
Facsimile: (928) 871-6177
HUESTON HENNIGAN LLP

John C. Hueston (pro hac vice pending)
jhueston@hueston.com
Moez M. Kaba (pro hac vice pending)

mkaba@hueston.com
Douglas J. Dixon (pro hac vice pending)

ddixon@hueston.com
523 West 6th Street, Suite 400
Los Angeles, CA 90014
Telephone: (213) 788-4340
Facsimile: (888) 775-0898
Counsel for Plaintiff Navajo Nation
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EXHIBIT 1
... f)~ -1tr V5Fl. J-:,-17
Aaron Lemke, CTP
100 W . Washington St.
•
2511, Floor
Phoenix, AZ 85003
wellsfargo.com
Subject: Wells Fargo Sales Practices, Dakota Access Pipeline, and financial services
To the Navajo Nation:
January 3, 2017
Wells Fargo values its relationship of more than a half-century with Navajo Nation and its 110 Chapters,
and we look forward to a continued discussion about your concerns. We are doing everything in our
power to rebuild the trust of Native American Peoples in us and address your current needs.
First, let me assure you that there has been no impact from Wells Fargo's improper sales practices, as
outlined by the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, to the Navajo Nation community. No Tribal
community members in Arizona or New Mexico were harmed, and no Wells Fargo team members who
worked at bank branches located on Navajo Nation lands were terminated.
Second, we hear your concerns regarding the Dakota Access Pipeline. We recognize and respect the
differing opinions being expressed in this dispute, and we hope all parties involved will work together to
reach a positive resolution. Please consider:
• Wells Fargo is one of 17 financial institutions involved in financing the Dakota Access Pipeline.
The loans we have provided represent less than 5 percent of the total for this project, and we are
contractually obligated to fulfill our commitments under the credit agreement so long as the
customer is meeting all of its terms and conditions.
• As one of the financing institutions, we met with the customer shortly after the protests had
begun and urged them to engage with the Standing Rock Sioux and their supporters - through a
third-party intermediary if necessary - in order to affect a more positive and productive
outcome for all parties. We are also participating with other lenders in the hiring of independent
human rights firm, Foley Hoag LLP, to advise the lenders to the project and to review issues
related to the DAPL permitting process and consultation with the Standing Rock Sioux. We
continue to monitor developments, including the decision by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
not to grant an easement for drilling near the tribal land.
Together we'll go far
© 2017 Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. All rights reserved.

Additional legal verbiage here, 8pt
<.• ...
• As an Equator Principles Financial Institution, Wells Fargo required this project to be evaluated
by an independent consultant in order to assess compliance with the Equator Principles
Environmental and Social Risk Management Framework. What we are learning from the
ongoing dispute related to this project, however, is that despite the enhanced due diligence
required by the Equator Principles, additional research may be needed for future projects to
help us fully understand the perspectives of and risks to indigenous communities. As such, we
have enhanced our own due diligence in sectors subject to our Environmental and Social Risk
Management policy to include more focused research into whether or not indigenous
communities are impacted and have been properly consulted.
• As specified in our Statement on Human Rights, Wells Fargo recognizes that governments have
the duty to protect human rights, and companies such as ours have a responsibility to respect
human rights. To that end, we strive to respect human rights throughout our operations and our
products and services, including consistent treatment among people, employee well-being and
security, economic and social freedom, and environmental stewardship. We seek tangible ways
to apply these principles through our actions and relationships with our team members,
customers, suppliers and communities in which we do business.
• Wells Fargo is committed to the responsible development of all forms of energy, and while we
maintain a large conventional energy portfolio, we are also a leader in the financing of
renewable energy and clean technology. We have supported the evolution of energy markets
toward cleaner forms of generation by investing more than $52 billion in environmentally
sustainable businesses since 2012. In 2015, projects owned in whole or in part by Wells Fargo
produced 10 percent of all solar photovoltaic and wind energy generated in the U.S.
• We are closely following the developments around the Dakota Access Pipeline, and we remain
hopeful that the concerns associated with this project will be addressed without additional
conflict and in a way that allows for a full understanding of all of the issues, perspectives, and
facts related to the project.
Third, Wells Fargo has been serving Native American customers and communities for more than 50
years, and today we provide capital and financial services to more than 200 tribal entities in 27 states,
including tribal community development projects. Highlights of our support include:
• We have completed dozens of Low Income Housing Tax Credit projects in nine states,
sponsored Affordable Housing Plan subsidies for tribal housing projects, and provided more
than $11 million in philanthropic support to hundreds of tribal nonprofit organizations
nationwide in the last three years alone.
• A grant to AIGC over three years through 2018 to provide funding for tribally enrolled members
and tribal descendants, benefiting many tribal students who self-identified themselves as Navajo
tribal members in 2016 .
,~ . ...
Finally, Wells Fargo is working quickly to address other Native American Peoples concerns, including
access to personal credit, home mortgages, and small business loans. We look forward to sharing our
progress with you at our earliest opportunity.
Sincerely,
Aaron Lemke
Vice President, Senior Relationship Manager
Arizona Regional Commercial Office
Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
Aaron.k.lemke @we llsfargo .com

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Case 1:17-cv-01219-JAP-SCY Document 1 Filed 12/12/17 Page 1 of 59

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NAVAJO NATION, a federally recognized Civ. Action No. 1:17-cv-1219

WELLS FARGO & COMPANY; WELLS

customers in online banking services without authorization.

increasing account figures and profits.

customers, for the sake of increased sales and higher profits.

8. The Navajo Nation is a federally-recognized Indian tribe with a sovereign

located in Window Rock, Arizona.

roughly $1.9 trillion in assets.

case or controversy. 28 U.S.C. § 1367(a).

under 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b).

A. Wells Fargo’s Nationwide Unlawful Business Practices

information without their knowledge or consent.

customers in online banking.

18. Wells Fargo’s business model is premised on getting customers to maintain

to Wells Fargo achieving its financial goals.

sometimes twice-daily reporting calls to explain their lack of sales.

21. Employees operated in a cutthroat sales environment. Branch managers were

they did not meet their quotas.

rates reach 42%.

“gaming”) to increase their sales and meet quotas.

(c) sandbagging were well known and widely practiced.

the account they want is available on its own.

b. In what is known as “pinning,” a Wells Fargo employee obtains a debit card

employees can enroll consumers in online banking, which is considered a

“solution” and results in a sales credit.

c. The practice of “sandbagging” involved delaying the opening of an account or

processing of a sale, without customers’ knowledge. In the month of December,

25. Wells Fargo employees also made misrepresentations to customers in order to

induce them into opening new accounts. These included:

they did not add savings accounts;

was sufficient to terminate the account - it was not;

d. Obtaining customer signatures on forms that employees represented were related

customers’ knowledge or consent.

“significant increase in the identified number of potentially unauthorized accounts” as it

B. September 2016 CFPB Consent Order

a. Opening unauthorized deposit accounts for existing customers and transferring

funds to those accounts from the customers’ other accounts;

b. Submitting applications for credit cards in customers’ names using customers’

information without their knowledge or consent;

Compliance Plan to the CFPB for approval.

C. Wells Fargo’s Internal Report

incentivized sales misconduct included:

Wells Fargo generated “retail scorecards” that measured how an employee or

Managers made meeting scorecard requirements their sole objective—a tactic

called “managing to the scorecard.” Employees reporting to those managers were

constantly pressured to meet scorecard goals.

called “Jump into January”—were “closely associated with increasing misconduct

behavior that helped cement the sales culture’s negative characteristics”;

withhold) December account openings until January to meet objectives. Although

“Accelerate”—the Sales Report described some witnesses as feeling that

cited” as “actively directing misconduct or offering inappropriate guidance to subordinates on

what constituted acceptable conduct.” As a result, individual employees resorted to unlawful or

otherwise improper sales practices, including:

a. Simulated funding, where an employee transferred funds from one account to

had been “funded” by a customer;

b. Falsifying customer identification or contact information;

c. Forging customer signatures;

d. Opening unauthorized personal checking or savings accounts for existing