JPMorgan Chase is seeking to get out of its legal obligation to pay a staggering $115 million in attorney fees racked up by two former business partners who were convicted of scamming the banking giant out of $175 million.
The nation’s largest lender filed legal papers in Delaware on Friday demanding that a judge reverse an earlier ruling that required it to pay the lawyers for Charlie Javice and her convicted co-conspirator Olivier Amar.
According to the filing, Javice’s team of lawyers across five law firms have billed JPMorgan approximately $60.1 million in legal fees and expenses, while Amar’s lawyers have billed the bank roughly $55.2 million in fees.
In total, the bank alleges Javice and Amar’s lawyers have racked up legal fees of $115 million, with one law firm receiving $35.6 million in reimbursements alone.
In comparison, Elizabeth Holmes, who was convicted of defrauding investors in the Theranos case, reportedly ended up with a legal bill of roughly $30 million.
“The legal fees sought by Charlie Javice and Olivier Amar are patently excessive and egregious,” a spokesperson for JPMorgan Chase told The Post.
“We look forward to sharing details of this abuse with the court in coming weeks.”
Javice, who was convicted in March, was sentenced to seven years in federal prison last month after Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein rejected prosecutors’ call for a 12-year term.
Prosecutors said she and Amar fabricated data to make it appear that Frank had 4.25 million student accounts when it had fewer than 300,000, duping the bank into paying a nine-figure sum.
Amar was convicted of the same charges, but he has yet to be sentenced.
JPMorgan’s 2021 merger agreement to buy student-loan startup Frank required the bank to advance legal expenses for its founders, Javice and Amar.
A Delaware court upheld the clause even after the pair were fired and convicted of defrauding JPMorgan out of $175 million.
The court ruled that the advancement of fees was mandatory under the deal’s indemnification provisions, forcing JPMorgan to pay for their defense in criminal, civil, and SEC cases.
The bank is now trying to recoup those costs as part of a $287.5 million restitution order, which also includes other merger-related losses.
Under the restitution order, Javice must repay just 10% of her post-prison income for 20 years, meaning JPMorgan is unlikely to recover much of the money.
Javice, 33, told the court last month she took “full responsibility,” but prosecutors dismissed her apology as “hollow” and “self-serving.”
Her defense team — led by Quinn Emanuel partner Alex Spiro, who charges more than $2,000 an hour — is expected to keep billing the bank during her appeal, despite the ongoing fight over reimbursement.
A law firm representing Amar did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Post has sought comment from Spiro.
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