Charlie Javice, an entrepreneur previously convicted of defrauding JPMorgan Chase during the bank’s acquisition of her student loan start-up, was sentenced to over seven years in prison on Monday. In March, a jury found Javice guilty of multiple fraud-related charges, including bank, wire, and securities fraud, alongside conspiracy to commit fraud. These charges arose from her provision of false customer lists during JPMorgan’s acquisition, which was valued at $175 million.
Javice had presented a customer database that she claimed contained 4 million users; however, the actual number of users was approximately 300,000. Following the acquisition, JPMorgan discovered discrepancies in the data, leading to an investigation into the legitimacy of the claims made by Javice.
Federal prosecutors sought a 12-year sentence for her actions, while her defense team requested 18 months. In addition to her prison term, U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein ordered Javice to forfeit over $22 million and to pay more than $287 million to JPMorgan, which is also seeking restitution from her co-defendant, Olivier Amar, who was the chief growth and acquisition officer at Frank.
Javice, 33, founded Frank in 2017 to assist students with the college financial aid process and was recognized on Forbes’ ’30 Under 30′ list shortly after. The company’s success attracted JPMorgan, which aimed to leverage Frank’s extensive customer base for marketing banking products to young adults. However, the fraud was only uncovered post-acquisition. In a letter to Judge Hellerstein, Javice stated, “I accept the jury’s verdict and take full responsibility for my actions,” adding that she feels “no excuses, only regret.”
Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gwj15djdxo?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss