Jury will decide if bank defrauded Seminole Tribe children

The Seminole Tribe is in a legal battle with Wells Fargo, which took over managing a trust fund meant for the Tribe's children. The fund has grown to over $1 billion over the last 20 years but the Tribe claims the bank's conservative investment strategy led to poor returns. Wells Fargo argues that the Tribe's leaders requested a cautious approach to investments. The case raises key issues about the bank’s responsibilities and whether they mismanaged the trust by choosing safer options that didn’t perform well compared to potential returns from stocks. The trust, created in 2005, is funded by profits from the Tribe's gambling operations. Children of Tribe members access payouts when they turn 24, but must also complete a financial management course and be drug-free first. The Tribe's lawsuit seeks to recover up to $800 million that they believe they lost due to the bank's decisions. At the same time, Wells Fargo's lawyers claim the Tribe’s leadership insisted on avoiding risk. The jury has listened to six weeks of testimony and will begin deliberations tomorrow.