White powder envelopes close NYC bank branches

UNDATED, May 1: A rash of incidents involving envelopes containing a suspicious white powder had police scrambling around New York City and forced the nation�s fourth-biggest bank, Wells Fargo & Co, to shut down five� branches.In all six cases, the substance turned out to be �non- hazardous,� and in one case, the powder was identified as corn starch, a police spokesman said yesterday.Four of the mailed envelopes contained an identical note, which included the language �Happy May Day,� the spokesman said.The incident comes on the eve of a planned day of protests organized by the Occupy Wall Street movement and labor groups across the country. According to a website called maydaynyc.Org, demonstrations are planned in New York City against �the corporations who rule our city.�Ed Needham, a member of Occupy Wall Street�s New York media team, said he had found no connection between the incident and his movement. �It doesn�t sound like something that we would do,� he said.A spokesman for Wells Fargo said its branches would remain closed pending further investigation by the police. The branch locations include Third Avenue and 47th Street; Madison Avenue and 34th Street; and Broadway and 85th� Street.Since it was launched eight months ago, Occupy Wall Street has targeted US financial policies it blames for the yawning income gap between rich and poor - between what they called the 1 per cent and the 99 per cent.More than 500 protesters demonstrated at the bank�s annual shareholder meeting in San Francisco last week to express anger over foreclosures, executive compensation and corporate taxes.Among other large banks, spokesmen for Bank of America Corp and JPMorgan Chase & Co said they had not closed any branches on Monday due to suspicious envelopes. A Citigroup spokesman had no immediate comment.San Francisco-based Wells Fargo is the fourth-largest US bank by assets.(AGENCIES)