JPMorgan Chase reports receiving invoices totaling $142 million in legal costs for the defense of Charlie Javice and Olivier Amar, who held the positions of founder and chief marketing officer, respectively, at the financial aid startup Frank.
In 2021, JPMorgan purchased Frank for $175 million. However, earlier that year, Javice and Amar were found to have defrauded the bank by exaggerating Frank’s customer numbers, leading to a seven-year prison sentence for Javice. According to The Wall Street Journal, JPMorgan is currently attempting to reverse a judge’s ruling that mandates the bank to cover the pair’s legal expenses.
Michael Pittinger, an attorney representing JPMorgan, stated that Javice’s legal team submitted bills for items such as upscale hotel upgrades, claims of 24 hours of work within a single day, and cellulite butter (a skin cream).
“In my experience, I have never encountered a case with such significant overspending,” Pittinger commented.
A representative for Javice informed the WSJ that she followed JPMorgan’s guidelines and “did not bill or see any expenses.”
“As a staff member, she purchased ice cream and other goods in compliance with JPMorgan’s code of conduct, and she never requested repayment for anything that was not clearly allowed under the provided guidelines,” Javice’s representative stated.
