Start-up founder Charlie Javice sentenced for defrauding JPMorgan

Charlie Javice, the entrepreneur convicted this year for defrauding JPMorgan Chase when the bank bought her student loan start-up, was sentenced on Monday to more than seven years in prison.

In March, a jury found Ms Javice guilty of bank, wire and securities fraud, as well as conspiracy to commit fraud, for giving JPMorgan fake customer lists when it acquired her start-up for $175m (£130m).

Ms Javice was convicted for using falsified user-base data to make the customer list for her student financial aid company, called Frank, appear far larger than it actually was.

JPMorgan was lured in by what appeared to be a database of 4 million users. In reality, that figure hovered around 300,000 users.

Federal prosecutors had requested a 12-year prison sentence. Lawyers for Ms Javice, who had pleaded not guilty, had asked for just 18 months.

US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein also ordered Ms Javice to forfeit more than $22m - and pay more than $287m to JPMorgan together with her co-defendant Olivier Amar, the start-up's chief growth and acquisition officer.

Ms Javice, 33, made a name for herself in finance after founding Frank in 2017. The start-up was lauded for helping students navigate the college financial aid process, and Ms Javice was named on the Forbes '30 Under 30' list two years after starting the company.

The firm's success caught the attention of JPMorgan, which bought Frank in 2021. The bank sought to use Frank's seemingly vast database of user information to market banking products to young adults.

But it was only after the acquisition that the bank uncovered the fraud.

Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan's chief executive, has in the past called the bank's acquisition of Frank a "huge mistake".

In a letter to Judge Hellerstein this month, Ms Javice said, "I accept the jury's verdict and take full responsibility for my actions."

"There are no excuses, only regret," she added.