SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 11 (UPI) -- A federal judge in California said Wells Fargo & Co. needed to repay $203 million to depositors for abusing bank overdraft fees.
"The bank went to considerable effort to hide these manipulations while constructing a facade of phony disclosure," Judge William Alsup wrote in his ruling in the case.
Wells Fargo was found to have charged fees up to 10 times on one overdraft mistake, CNNMoney.com reported Wednesday.
The overdraft fee at the bank was $35 per incident during the period covered in the case, which was 2005 through 2007. During that period, Wells Fargo's revenue for overdraft fees in California was $1.8 billion.
Wells Fargo spokeswoman Richele Messick said the bank planned to appeal the ruling.
An analyst for FBR Capital Markets, Paul Miller, said much of the manipulation of banks fees would change "with financial reform in general."
In the future, "The government is going to take a really hard look at this stuff," he said.
