Wells Fargo, Others a Step Closer to Avoiding Ponzi Scheme Class

Approximately 700 investors in an alleged $155 million Ponzi scheme shouldn’t receive class status in suit against Wells Fargo Bank NA and investment advisers, a magistrate judge said.

The plaintiffs seeking to represent victims of the alleged scheme involving two companies, Clean Energy Technology Association Inc. and Freedom Impact Consulting LLC, “have failed to demonstrate that this case is fit for class-wide resolution” because individualized issues outweigh common ones, Magistrate Judge Derek T. Gilliland of the US District Court for the Western District of Texas said Sept. 26.

The alleged victims received varying pitches and relied on misrepresentations to varying ...