Citi Targeted Armenian Americans and Treated Them Like Criminals, US Regulator Alleges

The bank then “hid” the discrimination by lying to consumers, giving them “false reasons” for credit denials, the CFPB said.

“Citi stereotyped Armenians as prone to crime and fraud,” CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said in a statement. “Citi illegally fabricated documents to cover up its discrimination.”

Under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, it is illegal to intentionally deny credit to groups of people based on national origin.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a frequent critic of big banks, condemned Citibank.

“Citibank’s intentional discrimination against Armenian Americans is illegal, outrageous and just plain wrong,” Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, told CNN in a statement. “The CFPB is right to hold the bank accountable.”

Dennis Kelleher, CEO of financial reform advocacy group Better Markets, called the allegations against Citi “stunning” and questioned whether the punishment fits the crime.

“That fine amount is meaningless to Citi,” Kelleher told CNN, noting it amounts to slightly more than 0.1% of the bank’s $20 billion in third-quarter revenue. “Individual bankers, including executives and supervisors, must be personally punished with meaningful fines and barred from working in the industry.”

During a call with reporters on Wednesday, Chopra said the people hurt thought they would be treated fairly by banks.

“Many Armenians have arrived in the US both because of opportunity but also because of physical dangers back home,” Chopra said, noting Armenia was a satellite of the Soviet Union before its collapse. “Those who immigrated to the United States should not be subjected to illegal discrimination on the basis of their national origin.”

The CFPB noted that Citi has a history of recently violating consumer financial protection laws. It paid $335 million in 2018 to 1.75 million consumer credit card holders for allegedly violating the Truth in Lending Act. In 2015, Citi paid almost $750 million for “deceptive and unfair practices” linked to overcharging credit card customers.

“I am concerned about Citi’s longstanding problems when it comes to managing its sprawling lines of businesses,” Chopra said. “The public has provided Citi with very large bailouts because of its past management failures. It is unfair for consumers to continue paying the price.”

Rep. Anna Eshoo, the only Armenian-Assyrian member of Congress, told CNN in a statement on Wednesday that her family members were turned away from a hotel in Fresno, Calif. in the early 1930s due to their last name.

“My relatives had no power to address the discrimination directed at them, but today, an agency I voted to create, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, has brought the justice needed,” Eshoo said, noting the penalties against Citi. “May their shocking behavior be relegated to the dustbin of history and never be forgotten for their fraud and deceit.”

Anthony Barsamian, co-chair of the Armenian Assembly of America, called Citi’s alleged discrimination “absolutely outrageous.”

“I’m just appalled,” Barsamian told CNN in a phone interview.

Barsamian, a trust and estate attorney in Massachusetts, said he’s been a Citibank customer for 20 years and even keeps client funds at the bank. Now, Barsamian said he is “absolutely” considering ending his business relationship with Citi.

Citi CEO Jane Fraser is scheduled to testify before Congress on December 6 as part of the Senate Banking Committee’s big bank oversight hearing.