** JPM accused of fraud
NY POST , TODAY
Jamie Dimon is being accused of wrongfully hoarding an $8 billion windfall gleaned in Washington Mutual's collapse -- and using the cash to prop up profits at his JPMorgan Chase.
In a bitter twist in the mammoth bankruptcy of WaMu, two parent holding companies of the defunct bank said in court papers that JPMorgan Chase refuses to release about $4 billion in cash deposits on the "absurd" belief it "purchased" the cash for $1.88 billion.
JPMorgan is also accused of improperly staking a claim to huge tax refunds worth another $4 billion, papers said. Documents signed by JPMorgan, when it took over WaMu eight months ago in a hasty shotgun marriage arranged by bank regulators, specifically forbid such cherry-picking of key assets, records show.
Sources said hundreds of bondholders are outraged that $8 billion is being stripped out, leaving nothing in the pot for WaMu's holding companies to pay bankruptcy claims.
"Jamie Dimon is essentially keeping money that legally should be going into the pockets of wronged investors," said one source.
JPMorgan said it doesn't comment on litigation.
Court papers said JPMorgan boosted its last quarterly profits by $6.1 billion, or by 65 percent, using the $4 billion in WaMu cash locked up in ordinary deposit accounts.
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