Woman Fired, Refused To Support N.J. Bank's Statewide Fraud Scheme: Lawsuit

A New Jersey woman is suing a prominent bank, saying she was fired for refusing to participate in schemes that possibly impacted thousands of the state's residents, according to a lawsuit.

Melinda Bini, a former assistant vice president and regional private banker at Wells Fargo's Highland Park bank branch, claims supervisors instructed her to manipulate accounts and sell banking products or investments that wouldn't benefit customers, according to nj.com.

The lawsuit, which was filed in Middlesex County Superior Court on April 5 and names Wells Fargo and three local bank supervisors, accuses her former superiors in the suit of running or knowing about alleged banking and investment fraud scheme, according to the report.

A spokesman for Wells Fargo declined to comment.

Wells Fargo, the second-largest banking institution in New Jersey, was fined $100 million in September 2016 by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for the widespread illegal practice of secretly opening unauthorized deposit and credit card accounts, according to a CPU press release.

Spurred by sales targets and compensation incentives, employees boosted sales figures by covertly opening accounts and funding them by transferring funds from consumers’ authorized accounts without their knowledge or consent, according to the release.

Wells Fargo was to pay full restitution to all victims and a $100 million fine, according to the release.

Bini refused to participate the "unlawful and unethical banking" and was harassed in retaliation, according to the nj.com report. In April 2016, Bini was fired, a move she said was manufactured by her supervisors for not joining the alleged scheme, according to the suit.

Patch file photo