REUTERS/Chris Helgren Acquire Licensing RightsNEW YORK, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Citigroup Inc (C.N) has agreed to pay $25.9 million to settle U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) charges it intentionally discriminated against credit card applicants who the bank identified as Armenian-American based on their last names.
The CFPB also said bank employees lied to applicants by giving them fake reasons for denials, and were instructed not to discuss the discrimination in writing or over the phone.
According to a consent order, some employees referred to card applicants they suspected were of Armenian descent as "Armenian bad guys" or the "Southern California Armenian Mafia."
The payment includes a $24.5 million civil fine and $1.4 million of restitution to card applicants, for violations of the federal Equal Credit Opportunity Act.
Citigroup apologized, saying it had been trying to thwart an Armenian fraud ring in California but that a "small number" of employees circumvented its fraud detection protocols.
Persons:
Chris Helgren, Rohit Chopra, Chopra, Biden, Jonathan Stempel, Tatiana Bautzer, Douglas Gillison, Chizu Nomiyama, Mark Potter
Organizations:
Citigroup Inc, Citi, REUTERS, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Citigroup, Southern California Armenian Mafia, Credit, Act, Thomson
Locations:
Toronto , Ontario, Canada, Glendale , California, Armenia, United States, Southern California, California, York, New York, Washington