JP Morgan That Javice Defrauded Now Foots $115M Bill for Her Legal Defense
Key Points:
JPMorgan Chase is paying $115 million in legal fees to defend Frank founder Charlie Javice and former executive Olivier Amar
A Delaware court ruled that JPMorgan is contractually bound to cover their defense costs under the merger agreement.
This happened even though the pair defrauded JPMorgan in the $175 million acquisition.
JPMorgan Chase is paying an astonishing $115 million in legal fees to defend Charlie Javice and Olivier Amar. Charlie Javice is the convicted founder of student-finance startup Frank, and Amar is her former colleague. The amount equals nearly two-thirds of the $175 million the bank spent acquiring their startup.
The massive bill stems from a Delaware court ruling. The court held that JPMorgan was contractually obligated under the Frank merger agreement. This ruling required the bank to cover the pair’s defense costs, even though it fired them after uncovering the fraud.
Javice, 33, was sentenced to seven years in prison last week. She orchestrated a massive scheme that tricked the bank into believing Frank had over 4.25 million student users, when in reality it had fewer than 300,000.
Javice and Amar were found guilty in March 2025 of fabricating customer data to inflate Frank’s value before its 2021 acquisition by JPMorgan. The duo hired top-tier lawyers, with 19 attorneys representing Javice and 16 defending Amar. Javice’s team included high-profile litigator Alex Spiro of Quinn Emanuel — known for representing Elon Musk — who reportedly charged over $2,000 an hour.
Former federal prosecutor Kevin O’Brien described the legal tab as “a huge, huge number,” noting that few defendants could afford such a defense without corporate backing. “It helps if someone else is picking up the bill,” O’Brien told Bloomberg.
During sentencing, U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein acknowledged Javice’s emotional apology but emphasized that her crimes were serious breaches of public trust. “Markets require honesty. Yours was not an honest measure,” he said. The judge rejected prosecutors’ call for a 12-year sentence and instead imposed an 85-month term.
The irony remains that JPMorgan is paying millions to defend the very people who defrauded it. The bank is now seeking to recover the funds as part of the $287.5 million restitution order, though it’s unlikely to see much return. Javice is required to pay only 10% of her post-prison income over 20 years.
In a court filing on Monday, Javice announced plans to appeal her conviction. Her lawyers stated that they expect JPMorgan to cover her legal expenses during the appeals process as well. Amar, her co-defendant and former chief growth officer at Frank, is scheduled to be sentenced on October 20. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon has described the Frank acquisition as 'a huge mistake. [Rh/Eth/VP]
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