Wells Fargo fires four executives amid probe into sales practices

By Dan Freed

(Reuters) - Wells Fargo & Co has fired four mid-level executives and stripped them of bonuses and stock awards as a result of an investigation into improper sales practices in its retail bank, according to a company announcement on Tuesday.

The board of directors voted unanimously to fire them for cause as part of its investigation into employees opening as many as 2 million deposit and credit card accounts without customers' permission.

Since the scandal and paying a $185 million fine to the U.S. government, Wells Fargo has been trying to show it is holding management accountable.

Claudia Russ Anderson, former chief risk officer for the Wells Fargo branch banking unit where the sales problems occurred, was among those fired. She chose to take a personal leave from the bank in September, bank spokeswoman Mary Eshet said. Anderson could not immediately be reached for comment.

The others fired by the bank were Pamela Conboy, Arizona lead regional president; Shelley Freeman, former Los Angeles regional president and now head of consumer credit solutions; and Matthew Raphaelson, head of community bank strategy and initiatives. None of them could immediately be reached for comment.

The four executives will not get bonuses for 2016 and will forfeit unvested equity awards and vested outstanding options.

A spokesman for the Wells Fargo board of directors, Paul Scarpetta at Sard Verbinnen & Co, declined to comment further.

The scandal led to the departure of former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John Stumpf last October.

Wells Fargo said on Tuesday the board's investigation was ongoing and was expected to be completed before the company's annual shareholder meeting in April.

(Reporting by Dan Freed in New York and Arathy S Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Lauren Tara LaCapra and Lisa Shumaker)