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Customers Demand Meeting With Wells Fargo CEO Over Alleged Unwanted Accounts

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — A group of Southland residents who claim they had unwanted accounts opened in their names at Wells Fargo Bank or were unable to modify "predatory" mortgage loans are demanding a meeting with the bank's CEO.

KNX 1070's Margaret Carrero reports some customers gathered at 1600 Vine Street in Hollywood to protest what they say has been Wells Fargo's involvement in improper foreclosures and consumer fraud tied to fraudulent accounts.

One of the protesters, Barbara Cuzick says she ended up with a second Wells Fargo savings account after visiting a Marina del Rey branch and explicitly telling the account sales guy she wasn't interested.

"The money was being taken from my checking account and I was almost in an overdraft situation," said Cuzick.

City prosecutors filed a civil complaint in May alleging employees of Wells Fargo opened unauthorized accounts for customers and then charged them bogus fees, which they say in turn damaged their credit.

Gisele Mata, an organizer with Alliance of California for Community Empowerment, says Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf owes it to his customers to meet with him over such allegations.

"It's a travesty and our communities are tired of it," said Mata. "All we want to do is sit down with John Stumpf and find out what the heck is gonna change to make our city better and our community stronger."

There was no immediate response to a request for comment from Wells Fargo.

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