Indicted Sen. Menendez grills Wall Street CEOs over junk fees

On Wednesday, at a congressional hearing, the embattled Menendez grilled Wall Street executives about how much money the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ordered each of their firms to pay back to consumers for violating federal laws including illegal fees and opening fake customer accounts. Through his questioning, the senator was attempting to show that, contrary to what the bank CEOs argued, new financial regulations do benefit everyday customers. 

Menendez directed his arrows at four retail bank CEOs—all of whom were unable to respond. He started with JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and moved down a long table asking Bank of America’s Brian Moynihan, Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser, and Wells Fargo CEO Charles Scharff how much each had “returned to customers in the form of redresses and payments at the direction of CFPB?”   

Though the executives didn’t know the answer, the numbers are large, even for top Wall Street firms: $360 million for JPMorgan Chase, $819 million for Bank of America, $1 billion for Citigroup, and “over $2 billion” for Wells Fargo. All in all, it amounts to nearly $4 billion.  

“It’s amazing you don’t know the number because they’re not small in nature,” Menendez said.  “It’s over $4 billion returned to hardworking consumers in the past dozen years.” 

Menendez’s own adherence to the law happens to also be in question. In September, the Justice Department charged him and his wife Nadine with accepting bribes and allegedly using his Senate seat to improperly aid the Egyptian government. A raid of Menendez’s house turned up $100,000 in gold bars and bundles of cash stuffed into jacket pockets. Menendez pleaded not guilty. 

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is facing legal challenges of its own. The watchdog, created in…