JPMorgan whistleblower gets $63.9m payday

The whistleblower who brought JPMorgan Chase to its knees is getting a $63.9 million payday

The whistleblower who brought JPMorgan Chase to its knees is getting a $63.9 million payday.

Former JPMorgan assistant vice president Keith Edwards sued the bank in 2013 under the False Claims Act, which allows individuals to sue businesses for defrauding taxpayers. The Justice Department later joined the suit as a plaintiff, according to a Reuters report.

Prosecutors maintained that JPMorgan defrauded the government into insuring shoddy mortgages. Federal Housing Administration and the Veterans Administration had to cover millions of dollars in losses after the loans went bad, Reuters reported. JPMorgan ultimately agreed to pay $614 million to resolve the claims.

That settlement agreement made Edwards a wealthy man. Under provisions of the False Claims Act, whistleblowers such as Edwards are entitled to a portion of settlement proceeds.

The Justice Department has paid out about $1.98 billion in settlement proceeds to whistleblowers since 2009, Reuters reported.