Wells Fargo gives exec who oversaw scandal-ridden department £95m 'golden handshake'

Wells Fargo, who recently fired 5,300 employees over five years for fraud, have handed their Head of Community Banking, Carrie Tolstedt, a ‘golden handshake’ worth $125million (£94.6million).

Fortune reports that Tolstedt led the unit where staff opened over two million unauthorised accounts. The resulting scandal saw the bank receive the largest penalty ever imposed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The money will go towards settling claims that the bank defrauded its customers.

Fortune adds that it does not appear she will have to give back any of her money as a result of the misconduct revelations, despite beefed-up “clawback” provisions instituted by the bank shortly after the financial crisis in the late noughties.

She announced her retirement in July. Wells Fargo’s CEO, John Stumpf, said she was “a standard-bearer of our culture” and “a champion for our customers”.