On Wednesday, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse tweeted an FTX-related meme depicting DC Comics superhero Batman slapping his protégé Robin. “But Wells Fargo illegal activity!” says Robin, while Batman responds emphatically, “We only care about FTX.”
Garlinghouse commented alongside the meme, expressing disappointment that Wells Fargo’s recent record-breaking fine for years of mistreatment of customers was not met with the same level of outrage as the FTX scandal.
After years of mistreating its customers, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau slapped Wells Fargo with a nearly $4 billion fine. Over the last decade, it has become clear that Wells Fargo is one of America’s worst-managed large banks, with a slew of complaints from both employees and customers.
According to the CFPB, Wells Fargo did not accurately document customer payments on home and auto loans from 2011 to 2020, actively repossessed some borrowers’ cars or homes for unjustified reasons, and charged overdraft fees even when customers had more than enough funds to cover their purchases.
Meanwhile, Bahamian prosecutors recently announced criminal charges against Sam Bankman-Fried, whom they accuse of playing a key role in concealing information about the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX from investors and the general public earlier this year. Bankman-Fried has been charged with securities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering.
