A federal judge in Camden, New Jersey, imposed a $5,000 sanction on a Pennsylvania lawyer for filing a frivolous suit against Wells Fargo Bank.

In a suit with 19 separate counts that sought $145 million in damages, Joshua Louis Thomas sued the bank on behalf of a property owner in foreclosure, even though the owner never spoke to Thomas or authorized him to file the suit, Senior U.S. District Judge Noel Hillman said when he imposed the sanction.