A New York state judge has ordered JPMorgan Chase & Co. to pay the billionaire Leonard Blavatnik $42.5 million plus interest, finding the bank liable for breach of contract after it was accused of mismanaging an investment account by betting on risky mortgage securities, Reuters reported yesterday. In a decision made public on yesterday, New York State Supreme Court Justice Melvin Schweitzer also said the largest U.S. bank was not liable on a negligence claim. Blavatnik had sought to recover more than $100 million that he said the bank lost on his original investment of roughly $1 billion.
