SACRAMENTO--Wells Fargo is under criminal investigation for identity theft by the state of California, the latest fallout from its fake account scandal.

California Attorney General Kamala Harris said in a warrant that there is probable cause to think the San Francisco-based bank committed felonies including identity theft and false impersonation.

Wells Fargo has drawn the ire of authorities for a practice in which employees opened more than 2 million fake bank and credit card accounts without customers’ approval in order to meet quotas.

The firm's stock price has plummeted after it agreed to pay more than $185 million in fines and its CEO John Stumpf announced he will retire, albeit with a $134 million payday.

Federal authorities are investigating the company, with the Labor Department promising a "top-to-bottom" review of complaints against it.

It is not clear whether California's possible charges will be against low-level workers, executives or Wells Fargo itself, according to the Los Angeles Times, which first reported the investigation.

Some have alleged there was criminal wrongdoing by the upper echelon of the company.

Democratic Queens Rep. Gregory Meeks said at a Congressional hearing last month that the firm was “basically a criminal enterprise” and Massachusetts Rep. Stephen Lynch said it could be prosecuted under a racketeering law designed to go after mobsters.

A Wells Fargo spokesman said the bank is cooperating with investigators, who have asked for documents about the customers affected by the fake accounts and the workers who opened them.

The company has apologized for the creation of fake accounts, carried out mostly by lower-level employees, though questions remain about executives' knowledge of what was happening.

A whistleblower's 2007 letter to Stumpf reported by CNN Money earlier this week says the "fraudulent exploitation of our clients" was "widespread and so highly encouraged that it has become a normal sales practice."

In addition to dealing with the scandal, some have also questioned Stumpf's decision to sell more than $60 million worth of his company stock in August, the month before regulators announced Wells Fargo's fine. (Source: New York Daily News)

Story Date: October 22, 2016