Professor Elam

Wells Fargo says it's fired workers who bilked a federal coronavirus relief program. A source tells CBS News 100 to 125 workers were shown the door.

David Galloreese, head of the bank's Human Resources department, said in an internal memo provided to CBS News that the workers "defrauded" the Small Business Administration's Economic Injury Disaster Loan program.

It was designed to aid companies hurt by the coronavirus shutdown.

The program offered grants of up to $10,000 for businesses impacted by the coronavirus. But Well Fargo says it discovered that some of its employees got loans from the program and put the funds into their personal accounts.

We have detailed numerous problems at WFC over the last few years. Most involved ethical failures at the top of the organization. We study ethics and corporate governance in ACCT 5308 and  4311. Apparently the tone at the top has been such that  100 employees thought they could get away with this stunt.

Worse what does this say about internal control at the Small Business Administration?  I am guessing they just rubber stampled teh applications without asking any questions. No accountability at WFC or SBA.

The Galloreese memo read in part, "Unfortunately, we have identified employees who we believe – outside of their work responsibilities – defrauded the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) by making false representations in applying for coronavirus relief funds for themselves through the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, which is administered directly through the SBA.