JPMorgan Chase is pushing back against paying more than $115 million in legal fees for two convicted fraudsters, Charlie Javice and Olivier Amar — the former executives who sold their financial-aid startup Frank to the bank under false pretenses. The case exposes how large-scale corporate fraud can spiral into costly legal fallout, even for the victims of the deception.
For nearly three years, JPMorgan Chase has been footing the legal bills of Charlie Javice and Olivier Amar, the founders of Frank, a student-aid platform the bank acquired in 2021. The pair were later convicted of fraud after investigators found they fabricated customer data to inflate the company’s value.
Court filings now show the two have amassed staggering legal costs — roughly $60 million billed by Javice’s team and $55 million by Amar’s. The combined total of $115 million has prompted the bank to argue that it should no longer be obligated to cover their expenses.
Javice, 33, was found guilty of deceiving the bank by creating false records to suggest that Frank had more than 4 million users when it had fewer than 300,000. Amar faced the same charges. As part of the acquisition agreement, JPMorgan initially agreed to advance legal fees for both defendants — a clause standard in some mergers but rarely tested under criminal convictions.
In its latest filing, the bank accuses the defendants’ legal teams of “abusive billing” and treating the arrangement “like a blank cheque.” One firm reportedly received more than $35 million alone, while the total cost now far exceeds that of other high-profile fraud cases such as Theranos.
Bank representatives have stated that the fees are “patently excessive and egregious,” and that continuing to pay them would cause “irreparable injury.” The bank is now asking the court to end its obligation to fund the defence.
Javice and Amar, once celebrated as young financial-tech innovators, are now cautionary examples of how inflated valuations and misrepresentation can lead to criminal convictions. Their story underscores the importance of due diligence in acquisitions and the financial risks that persist long after fraud is exposed.
