Suit claims Wachovia ignored fraud

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Feb. 6 (UPI) -- Despite warnings, Wachovia bank kept working with telemarketers who were using unauthorized checks to steal millions, court documents released Wednesday said.

Internal Wachovia e-mail messages allegedly show that executives knew some accounts had crossed banking standard thresholds and, yet, frequently didn't close the accounts, The New York Times reported.

In one 2005 case, a company garnered 4,500 complaints in a two-month span. Another company reportedly paid $1.5 million in bank fees to Wachovia in an 11-month period, a sign that something was wrong but also a reason to keep the account open, the report said.

"We are making tons of money from them," Wachovia executive Linda Pera wrote in a 2005 e-mail message about a company later accused of helping steal $142 million.

Lawyers told the Times a class action suit against the bank, filed in federal court in Pennsylvania, could expand to 500,000 plaintiffs.

The bank made changes in 2007 to protect accounts from unauthorized withdrawals, which "could be very good news for millions of consumers," Center for Responsible Lending spokeswoman Kathleen Kreest, said in the Times' report.