JPMorgan Chase has been ordered by a judge to pay Frank founder Charlie Javice’s defence costs in the bank's suit accusing her of defrauding it in its $175 million acquisition of her college financial planning site.
The bank agreed to buy Frank - which provided an online portal that lets users apply for financial aid in minutes and enrol in a catalogue of online college courses - in late 2021.
But, late last year JPMorgan sued Javice, of creating a list of millions of fake users to get the deal completed.
Javice filed her own suit against JPMorgan in an effort to force the bank to cover her legal fees.
Delaware Chancery Court Judge Kathaleen McCormick has now rejected JPMorgan's argument that Javice's alleged fraud fell outside of the merger agreement and ruled that the bank is legally obligated to cover her legal bills.
Frank's chief growth officer Olivier Amar, who along with Javice is accused of asking a senior engineer at the firm to create the list of fake names, will also have costs covered by the bank.
Javice has also been charged with fraud by the SEC and, last month, was hit with criminal charges by Manhattan federal prosecutors.
Today's ruling is also "likely" to cover Javice's defence in the criminal case, according to Bloomberg.