Wells Fargo Closes Account of Politician for Receiving Cannabis Donations
[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]W[/dropcap]ells Fargo & Co. recently made it clear that it does not approve of cannabis contributions. Agriculture commissioner candidate Nikki Fried received an Aug. 3 letter from Wells Fargo & Co. stating that it would be terminating her bank account because she accepted donations from lobbyists in the cannabis industry.
“As part of the onboarding of the client it was uncovered some information regarding the customers [sic] political platform and that they are advocating for expanding patient access to medical marijuana,” Antoinette Infante, a vice president and senior relationship manager at Wells Fargo, wrote in a July 11 email, Forbes reported. Fried initially thought it was a joke.
“Periodically, we review our account relationships as part of our responsibility to oversee and manage banking risks,” the letter said. “As a result of a recent review of your account relationship, we determined that we need to discontinue our business relationship and close the account above within 30 days from the date of this letter.”
Fried isn’t the only one who has been negatively affected by banking issues because of her involvement in the cannabis industry. PNC Bank closed Marijuana Policy Project’s bank account last year. Lawyers and business owners aren’t exempt from bank intimidation. Also recently, Great Southern Bank dropped bank accounts of CBD shop accounts.
The move spells worries for the dozens of other current politicians who have accepted donations from cannabis companies.
Fried has supported the medical cannabis movement during her campaign and was also a medical cannabis lobbyist before running for office. “There is no clearer example of our broken government than medical marijuana,” she said in video when she announced her candidacy.
Fried plans on transferring her accounts to BB&T Corp., a company that hasn’t raised any flags with banking issues.
