Wells Admits It Created 1.4 Million More Fake Accounts Than Previously Admited

Remember the outrage one year ago when it was revealed that in its push to pad its top, and bottom line, Warren Buffett's favorite bank had engaged in outright criminal account churning and "cross selling", opening some 2.1 million unauthorized client accounts without permission (subsequently this extended to unsolicited car insurance policies extended on Wells auto loans). Well it turns out there was not nearly outrage, because as the bank revealed this morning, the "real" number was higher. 67% higher. 

According to the outside review whose findings were released today, Wells Fargo said employees created two-thirds more bogus accounts than initially thought. According to the review, an additional 1.4 million "potentially unauthorized" deposit and credit-card accounts opened when the bank was encouraging employees to sell multiple products to retail customers, bringing the total to about 3.5 million, according to a statement Thursday from the San Francisco-based firm. The revised estimate covers January 2009 to September 2016, almost twice as long as the period examined in the initial review.

Wells new CEO was, predictably, all apologies: 

“We apologize to everyone who was harmed by unacceptable sales practices that occurred in our retail bank,” said Wells Fargo CEO Tim Sloan. “To rebuild trust and to build a better Wells Fargo, our first priority is to make things right for our customers, and the completion of this expanded third-party analysis is an important milestone. Through this expanded review, as well as the class action settlement, free mediation services, and ongoing outreach and complaint resolution, we’ve cast a wide net to reach customers and address their remaining concerns. Our commitment has never been stronger to build a better bank for our customers, team members, shareholders and communities.”

However, as Bloomberg writes, the discovery is "a sign the bank is still struggling to move past a scandal that sparked record fines and congressional investigations." Furthermore, "the disclosure of even more fraudulent accounts threatens to catapult Wells Fargo back into the political crosshairs just as Congress returns Sept. 5 from its summer recess."

The scandal came to light almost a year ago after regulators slapped Wells Fargo with fines of $185 million over its sales practices, prompting congressional hearings and resulting in the bank naming new leaders, clawing back executives’ pay and beginning an overhaul of its retail division.

“New data should cause some lawmakers to re-engage on the issue," Isaac Boltansky, an analyst with Compass Point Research & Trading, told Bloomberg before the new tally was announced. Democrats will again argue it proves Washington needs to keep rules tight on financial firms, while Republicans will continue to fault Consumer Financial Protection Bureau officials for not spotting the misconduct themselves, Boltansky said.

As Bloomberg writes, Wells Fargo had agreed to expand its review after Washington lawmakers lambasted the company following former Chief Executive Officer John Stumpf’s testimony last September about the bank’s sales practices. Under pressure, the bank agreed to review records dating back to 2009, rather than through 2011 as it initially did. 

The company said it has paid or identified $10.7 million in customer compensation related to the investigation. The figure includes $7 million of refunds, up from $3.3 million the bank had previously disclosed. It also includes $3.7 million related to what it described as the “complaints process/mediation.” 

“Today’s announcement is a reminder of the disappointment that we caused to our customers and stakeholders,” CEO Tim Sloan said on a conference call Thursday with reporters. “We apologize to everyone who was harmed by unacceptable sales practices that occurred in our retail bank.” 

Democrats led by Representative Maxine Waters of California earlier this month called for a House Financial Services Committee hearing about a separate scandal at Wells Fargo involving unwanted car insurance imposed on auto-loan customers. And Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusettswrote to the Federal Reserve to again press for the removal of board members who served during the original accounts review period of 2011 to 2015.

Today's revelation was partially expected: in March the bank warned investors that its initial bogus-accounts estimate was probably too low, saying in its annual filing that a new search by a third-party firm “could lead to, among other things, an increase in the identified number.”

Credit to Zero Hedge

U.S. Deploys B-1Bs, F-35s To Korea In "Unprecedented" Show Of Force

A day after President Donald Trump finally broke his silence on North Korea after the isolated nation twice provoked its geopolitical adversaries in the span of just four days, Yonhap is reporting that the US sent four F-35B stealth jets and two nuclear-capable B-1B strategic bombers to train with South Korea's F-15K fighter jets over the Korean Peninsula on Thursday in what it described as an "unprecedented" escalation of the allies' military response to N.Korea's provocations.

Thursday’s air-to-ground precision-strike drills were conducted a mock bombing drill, which simulated a surgical strike of key enemy facilities, over the Pilsung Range in the eastern province of Gangwon.

The "unprecedented" combined maneuver involved the F-35Bs from Japan and the long-range bombers based in Guam as well as a squadron of four F-15Ks, Yonhap said.


They used MK-84, MK-82 and GBU-32 bombs, according to Yonhap. In a statement, US Pacific Command said the flyover was a "direct response to North Korea's intermediate range ballistic missile launch." "North Korea's actions are a threat to our allies, partners and homeland, and their destabilizing actions will be met accordingly," said Gen. Terrence O'Shaughnessy, commander of Pacific Air Forces.




The exercise was designed to "strongly counter North Korea's repeated ballistic missile tests and development of nuclear weapons," a South Korean official told CNN.

In response, KCNA, the state-run North Korean news agency, threatened more missile tests, saying “we will in the future, too, conduct ballistic rocket launching drill targeting the Pacific where the US imperialist aggressor forces’ bases are stationed."

The demonstration followed the formal conclusion of the annual 11-day military drills between the US and the South known as the “Ulchi-Freedom Guardian” war games. The drills followed a demonstration of "overwhelming force" from the South Korean military that was ordered in response to the isolated North's latest provocation.

Also mobilized was a KC-135 Stratotanker aerial refueling plane, a defense source said.



The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the most expensive and one of the most controversial weapons systems in US history, is held out as "the cornerstone" of US defense in the Pacific. Based at a US base in Iwakuni, the first of 16 fighters arrived in Japan in January, showing Washington's "commitment to the defense of Japan with the most capable and modern equipment in the US inventory," a US Marines official told CNN at the time.

According to the Marines, the deployment of the fighters to Japan was ordered under the Obama administration, and was not related to ongoing tensions with North Korea.




Credit to Zero Hedge

India floods: Toddlers killed in Mumbai rains

Monsoon rains have killed at least five people, including two toddlers, in Mumbai as India's financial capital ground to a halt under flooding.

Roads were hit by waist-deep flooding, flights cancelled and train services suspended, stranding tens of thousands.

More rain is expected but the situation has improved for now, the BBC's Suranjana Tewari says.



The rains in Mumbai follow devastating floods across a swathe of South Asia, which have killed more than 1,200.

At least 500 of the deaths happened in the northern Indian state of Bihar, according to officials.


Some 16 million people have been affected across South Asia, say aid workers. They estimate that tens of thousands of people have been displaced.

Mumbai has seen a slow return to normalcy, although schools and offices remain closed on Wednesday.


Credit to BBC

Fears of North Korean-US War Open Up Messianic Portal for Return of Elijah

“Lo, I will send the navi Eliyahu to you before the coming of the awesome, fearful day of Hashem.” Malachi 3:23 (The Israel Bible™)

In a dramatic escalation of hostilities, North Korea fired a missile over Japan on Tuesday morning, setting off warning sirens and sending residents running to shelter, and at least according to one rabbi, opening the door for Elijah the Prophet to appear.

At six AM Tuesday morning, an unidentified North Korean missile flew over Erimo Misaki District, on the northern island of Hokkaido, breaking into three pieces before falling into the Pacific Ocean about 733 miles off the Japanese coast. There were no efforts by the Japanese to down the missile as it passed over their airspace. The Trump Administration responded immediately and strongly with the ominous warning, “All options are on the table.”

Will Ripley‏Verified account @willripleyCNN

North Korea missile launch a “reckless act” & the most “grave threat ever," impairing regional safety & peace - Japan Prime Min. Shinzo Abe

In a commentary on current events, Rabbi Moshe Grylak, co-publisher of the religious Jewish Mishpacha Magazine and a prolific author, hinted last week at just such an escalation, in which North Korea’s rogue leader, Kim Jong Un, would be the first to act, engaging in a senseless flexing of nuclear muscle.

However, the rabbi had a Biblical perspective on the turmoil emanating from North Korea, explaining that it is actually part of the process of redemption because it generates the necessary final ingredient to bring the Messiah: fear.

“When the world realizes that all their efforts fail, they will be terrified and some will take this and turn it into fear of heaven,” Rabbi Grylak told Breaking Israel News. Rabbi Grylak named this process ‘Elijah’, the prophet who will return to announce the arrival of the Messiah, as described in the Book of Malachi.

He shall reconcile parents with children and children with their parents, so that, when I come, I do not strike the whole land with utter destruction. Lo, I will send the navi Eliyahu to you before the coming of the awesome, fearful day of Hashem. Malachi 3:24

“Elijah is not an old man with a flowing white beard who will blow on a shofar,” explained Rabbi Grylak. “The Elijah that precedes Moshiach (Messiah) is an unprecedented awakening of hearts to God’s will.”

Rabbi Grylak quoted Michtav MeEliyahui, a book on Jewish philosophy written by Rabbi Eliyahu Dessler, a 20th century Talmudic scholar, who wrote, “Only when men come to see the futility and emptiness of a life dedicated to this world, will they be enabled to rise to a spiritual outlook and the light of Moshiach will be revealed.”

“This awakening is sorely lacking right now,” Rabbi Grylak said. “But when two crazy men threaten the world with nuclear war, it generates fear. That is certainly one way to wake people up.”

In fact, multiple conflicts and catastrophes are generating concern around the globe: hurricanes in Texas, multiple armies vying for position in Syria, Iran flexing its muscles, and the internal polarization in America. Rabbi Grylak emphasized that at the root of the turbulence was the issue of Jerusalem and the Jews.

“So many times I heard people say they hate Israel today because when Israel was first established, and even more so after we conquered the Temple Mount in ‘67, they expected so much from Israel,” the rabbi explained. “We disappointed them. The truth is hidden under a great darkness of hatred of Jews. But even within this hatred is the key, the seed of hope from which the Moshiach will grow.”

The rabbi cited Isaiah to illustrate how an essential aspect of this pre-Messiah global awakening has to be focused on Jerusalem.

For the sake of Tzion I will not be silent, For the sake of Yerushalayim I will not be still, Till her victory emerge resplendent And her triumph like a flaming torch. Nations shall see your victory, And every king your majesty; And you shall be called by a new name Which Hashem Himself shall bestow. Isaiah 62:1-2

“Israel is presenting itself as a great success, which it is, but we are focusing on the wrong things,” Rabbi Grylak said. “We are focusing on the material when what the world really needs from Israel is to be a spiritual light of Torah, to guide them through this fear, to take them to the next stage before it is too late.”

Credit to Breaking Israel News
Read more at https://www.breakingisraelnews.com/93948/north-korean-missile-japan-final-element-bring-messiah-says-rabbi/#PyqxuAiojyHRSbem.99