Consumer complaint received 2026-04-21 00:00:00
Product: Checking or savings account — Other banking product or service
Issue: Opening an account — Unable to open an account
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: MN

Complaint narrative:
OFFICIAL COMPLAINT : WELLS FARGO BANK , N.A . Subject : Induced Fiduciary Fraud, XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX, and Physical Endangerment. I am the court-appointed co-representative for the XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX I am filing this formal complaint against Wells Fargo for a coordinated, chronological pattern of gross negligence, document destruction, and illegal instructions that culminated in the withholding of estate funds and my physical endangerment. 1. Secure Chain of Custody and the 4-Hour Wait XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX To open the estate account, my co-representative ( my brother ) went in person to the Wells Fargo branch in Cloquet, MN. He met with a banker, signed the necessary documents, and the Cloquet branch securely XXXX 'd the original signature records overnight directly to the XXXX XXXX branch. When I arrived at the XXXX XXXX branch to finalize the account, I sat for four hours while the banker refused to explain the delay or provide status updates. Because of the bankers suspicious behavior and lack of transparency, I did not feel safe leaving a guaranteed {$3100.00} XXXX XXXX check in his possession. I took the check back for safety and explicitly informed the banker I would contact him in exactly two days to finish opening the account. 2. Premature Destruction of Internal Bank-to-Bank Records When I called the banker exactly two days later to finalize the account, he informed me that he had already shredded my brother 's signature recordsdocuments that had been securely verified and XXXX 'd internally by his own colleagues in XXXX. To cover up this premature destruction, the banker falsely claimed I had " canceled '' the account. I have a written email from Wells Fargo Escalations ( XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX ) admitting they " securely disposed '' of these documents as " protocol. '' The bank sabotaged the account setup before the 48-hour window was even up. 3. Induced Fiduciary Fraud by Bank Staff Because the bank destroyed their own internal signature records, they claimed their system " wouldn't work '' to properly set up the estate account. Subsequently, multiple branch managers and customer service agents explicitly instructed me to open a personal account and deposit the estate funds into it. Instructing a fiduciary to commingle estate funds with personal assets is a solicitation to commit fraud and a direct violation of probate law. I possess audio recordings of bank staff giving this illegal advice. 4. The ATM Setup ( XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXX/XX/year> ) With the bank having destroyed the necessary records, I went to the XXXX XXXX branch to deposit the {$3100.00} Title Company check. After a mobile deposit attempt failed, the branch manager refused to process the check manually at her desk.Knowing the bank had shredded the internal signature records, she forced me to deposit the check into the ATM. This was a calculated setup, as she knew the automated system would reject it due to the verification issues the bank itself created. 5. Illegal Reversal and Physical Endangerment ( XX/XX/year> ) At XXXX XXXX on Saturday, the ATM deposit was reversed. This reversal violates Minnesota Statute XXXX, which grants me the independent legal authority to receive and receipt for estate property. Because of this targeted obstruction, my balance dropped to zero, my phone service was shut off, and I was left physically stranded in XXXX XXXX in freezing temperatures without any survival resource Note : When opening the account on Friday, the branch manager improperly named it 'the new estate account ' in their system instead of the legal name of the deceased, further proving their gross negligence. ''

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation