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Wells Fargo, in the midst of a scandal involving employees who opened unauthorized accounts to earn the bank fees, won't be doing business with another customer for a while: the state of Ohio.

(Associated Press file)

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Gov. John Kasich today said that Wells Fargo, the giant bank accused of defrauding thousands of customers of millions of dollars, does not deserve to do business with the state of Ohio for at least a year.

Kasich said the San Francisco-based bank "has lost the right to do business with the state of Ohio because its actions have cost it the public's confidence."

Separately, Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel last week put a freeze on new business with Wells Fargo and is reviewing future action, said Mandel spokesman Chris Berry.

This comes after federal and California authorities fined the bank $185 million for using customers' information to open unauthorized credit and banking accounts -- 1.5 million deposit accounts and 565,443 credit card accounts. Few Ohioans are believed to have been affected directly, but the bank does investment business with the state -- and the state says it doesn't like the way the bank has treated customers.

Although bank executives insist the fraud was the result of rogue employees, federal regulators and Congress members say the bank had a culture that encouraged aggressive sales practices -- and deception -- to foist banking products on customers that the customers neither wanted nor needed.

The bank's CEO, John Stumpf, resigned this week, with a retirement payout reported by USA Today at $134 million.

Kasich said in a news release that he may reconsider his decision if Wells Fargo makes progress in reforming its culture.

Bond work is where Wells Fargo made its Ohio money:

Wells Fargo has only a small banking footprint in Ohio, and state records show little regular business between it and state agencies. But Wells Fargo has won state bond management and issuance contracts that presumably were lucrative.

They include the management of a $100 million bond issue in March of this year to finance research and development through the Third Frontier, a state program that funds cutting-edge economic development.

In 2015, Wells Fargo won another bid from the state in connection with $72.4 million worth of bonds for schools. And it contracted to issue $442.7 million worth of bonds, mostly connected with higher education, in 2012.

These contracts were awarded competitively by the Ohio Public Facilities Commission, a six-member board that includes Kasich and Mandel. Wells Fargo's precise fees for this work were not immediately known.

Separately, Mandel's office in 2012 awarded Wells Fargo contracts as the senior manager over $215 worth of bonds, issued to finance state facilities and highway improvements. And the treasurer's office said Wells Fargo was a co-manager in August of another state bond issue.

Counting all three contracts with the treasurer's office, but not those with the public facilities commission, "they shared compensation with nine other banks totaling $1,056,841.60," Berry said in an email.

More work is -- or isn't -- in the pipeline:

Ohio has two new multi-million bond issues in the pipeline, with bids for one -- to finance about $50 million in upgrades for state information technology -- due next Tuesday, according to the state Office of Management and Budget.

Bids for another bond issue, to finance about $150 million for road and bridge work, are due Nov. 1.

If Wells Fargo were to submit the lowest and best bid to manage or issue the bonds, the facilities commission would likely vote no because of Kasich's announcement. Kasich's vote on the commission carries no greater weight than that of other members, but Mandel has already made his opinion clear. The other members are Ohio's auditor, attorney general, secretary of state and budget director.

The budget director is a Kasich appointee.

A Wells Fargo executive told CNBC that Ohio's decision will not harm the bank's finances because of the bank's size and business diversification.

Other states are banning the bank's business, too:

Kasich's action follows similar decisions by California, Illinois and the cities of Seattle and Chicago. Bank executives have faced the wrath of U.S. Senate and House banking committees and investigators from the city of Los Angeles, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

The bank's shenanigans came to public light in the Los Angeles Times, although investigators said they were already looking into the claims. Wells Fargo's practices included not only using customers' names and Social Security numbers to sign up for credit cards and other accounts, some of which led to interest charges and overdraft fees, but also forcing customers to go to arbitration if they complained, thus avoiding lawsuits.

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, the senior Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, said he will push to change federal law so customers regain a right to sue.

Brown applauded Kasich's decision.

"Wells Fargo cheated customers and until it lays out concrete steps to make things right, it doesn't deserve the state of Ohio's business," Brown said in a statement.