Whistleblower / False Claims
08/04/2017 - $108,000,000
Cash Settlement – 08/04/2017. United States of America ex rel. Victor Bibby and Brian Donnelly v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., et al. U.S. District Court, Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division. Wells Fargo Bank settled claims under the False Claims Act brought by two whistleblowers for recovery of money on behalf of the U.S. Government. Wells Fargo agreed to pay $108 million to settle claims that the bank cheated military veterans and taxpayers out of millions of dollars by hiding illegal fees in veterans’ home mortgage refinancing transactions and then sought to collect on void government loan guaranties. The case involved veterans’ Interest Rate Reduction Refinance Loans (“IRRRLs”) that spanned a more than twenty year period and included IRRRLs from all fifty states and the District of Columbia. Wells Fargo settled the claims prior to trial, which was scheduled to start in August, 2017.