The fall of a $175 million startup fraud has sent shockwaves through Wall Street and Silicon Valley. Charlie Javice, once hailed as a rising star entrepreneur, now faces decades behind bars after being convicted of orchestrating an elaborate scheme to defraud JPMorgan Chase.
At a glance:
• Charlie Javice, founder of college financial aid company Frank, was convicted of defrauding JPMorgan Chase of $175 million
• Javice claimed to have over 4 million users but actually had only about 300,000
• She faces up to 30 years in prison on charges including wire fraud, bank fraud, and conspiracy
• JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon called the acquisition a “huge mistake”
• The case draws parallels to Elizabeth Holmes and the Theranos fraud scandal
Massive Fraud Uncovered in Financial Aid Startup
Charlie Javice, the 31-year-old founder of financial aid company Frank, was convicted of defrauding JPMorgan Chase out of $175 million after a five-week trial. A federal jury in New York found Javice guilty on all counts, including securities fraud, wire fraud, bank fraud, and conspiracy charges that could send her to prison for up to 30 years.
Javice’s executive, Olivier Amar, who served as Frank’s Chief Growth Officer, was also convicted on all charges related to the scheme. The prosecution successfully proved that Javice grossly inflated her company’s customer base, claiming to have 4.25 million users when in reality Frank had only about 300,000 verifiable customers.
How the Deception Unfolded
Frank was marketed as a service to help college students navigate the complex financial aid application process, charging fees for its services. Javice falsely represented her company’s user base to JPMorgan during acquisition discussions in 2021, leading the banking giant to purchase the startup based on fraudulent information.
Patrick Vovor, Frank’s former Chief of Engineering, delivered damaging testimony against Javice, stating: “I told them I would not do anything illegal.” Vovor testified that Javice had asked him to create fake customer data to support her inflated claims, which he refused to do.
Instead, prosecutors proved that Javice paid a college friend to generate fake customer data to deceive JPMorgan Chase. The fabricated information was never verified by a third-party data provider, creating a house of cards that eventually collapsed when JPMorgan discovered the truth.
Aftermath and FAFSA Improvements Under Trump
”Obviously, this thing, in one way or another, was a huge mistake,” JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said. Dimon further indicated he would share “lessons learned” once the litigation had concluded, highlighting the embarrassment this fraud caused one of America’s largest financial institutions.
Interestingly, the case revealed how President Trump’s administration had already implemented significant improvements to the FAFSA process, making Frank’s services largely obsolete. Legislation signed by President Trump simplified the federal student aid application process, reducing the number of required questions and allowing tax data to be imported directly from the IRS.
These Trump-era improvements led to increased FAFSA usage, with over 8 million forms submitted for the 2025-26 school year, representing a 50% increase from the previous year. This success story stands in stark contrast to the fraudulent practices employed by Javice to sell her now-defunct company.
Acting U.S. Attorney Matthew Podolsky of the Southern District of New York delivered a clear message following the conviction: “While Javice and Amar may have thought that they could lie and cheat their way to a huge payday, their lies caught up with them, and they now stand convicted by a jury of their peers.”
Despite the overwhelming evidence against her, Javice’s legal team is preparing to appeal the verdict. Javice remains free on $2 million bail since her arrest in 2023, but her days of freedom appear to be numbered as she awaits sentencing for one of the most brazen startup frauds in recent memory.
