Wells Fargo Bank will appeal Tuesday’s landmark verdict awarding more than $800 million to a trust fund benefiting the children of the Seminole Tribe of Florida, a decision that came after a six-week trial in Broward County, a bank spokeswoman said.
“We followed the Tribal Government’s clear and repeated instructions about the management of the trust, abided by our fiduciary duty, and delivered financial results consistent with the Trust’s mandate for the children of the Tribe during our time as Trustee,” said Meghan McDonald, spokeswoman for the bank’s Wealth and Investment Management department. “Our goal for the appeal is to address multiple courtroom rulings that we believe prevented us from sharing the full story with the jury.”
Jurors deliberated for about six hours on Tuesday before reaching their decision, which weighed six weeks of testimony from financial experts, Tribe leaders and bank officials who explained the bank’s decisions to invest the Tribe’s money in a way guaranteed to minimize risk . The bank’s investment strategy resulted in returns that barely kept pace with inflation from 2005, when the Minors Per Capita Payment Trust was established, until 2016, when the Tribe began accusing the bank of mismanagement and excessive, illegal fees…