Entrepreneurship September 29, 2025 0 Comments

How a Fintech Visionary’s $175 Million JPMorgan Scheme Collapsed, Landing Him 7 Years Behind Bars—The Shocking Twist No One Saw Coming

Ever wonder what happens when a startup’s user base is more fiction than fact—millions of fake users crafted out of thin air? Well, JPMorgan found out the hard way, and the fallout is as fascinating as it is cautionary. Charlie Javice, founder of the financial aid startup Frank, painted an impressive picture of millions relying on her platform to navigate college expenses. But behind the scenes, it was all smoke and mirrors—Javice had fabricated a vast majority of these so-called users. The $175 million acquisition by JPMorgan Chase turned into a courtroom drama, culminating in Javice’s recent sentencing to over seven years in prison and a hefty multimillion-dollar fine. It’s a stark reminder that not all glitters in the startup world—and that in business, honesty really is the best policy (or at least, the wisest one). Curious about how it all unraveled? LEARN MORE

JPMorgan discovered that Charlie Javice had made up millions of fake users.

Key Takeaways

Charlie Javice was sentenced to 85 months in prison for defrauding JPMorgan Chase.
Javice’s finance startup, Frank, was acquired by JPMorgan for $175 million in 2021.
In addition to spending time behind bars, the judge ordered Javice to pay $22.4 million.

Six months after being found guilty of defrauding JPMorgan Chase & Co., startup founder Charlie Javice has been sentenced to a little over seven years in prison.

U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein delivered the sentence on Monday in Manhattan federal court, adding that the 85-month prison time would be followed by three years of supervised release. Prosecutors had asked for a harsher 12-year prison sentence.

Javice, 32, will also have to pay restitution and forfeiture. Prosecutors asked the court to require Javice to forfeit about $20 million currently held in her frozen accounts, per The Wall Street Journal. Hellerstein ultimately required Javice to forfeit $22.4 million, per Bloomberg.

On Monday, Javice expressed “profound remorse” for her actions, saying that she had “made mistakes.”

“I am deeply sorry, and I am asking with all my heart for forgiveness,” Javice said, per WSJ.

Javice made headlines in 2021 when JPMorgan acquired her college financial aid startup, Frank, for $175 million. Frank was a site that helped students apply for federal financial aid and locate scholarships. At the time, Javice claimed that the online portal had reached more than five million students at 6,000 schools since its launch in 2017.

However, JPMorgan quickly discovered that most of Frank’s customers were fake when it launched an email campaign targeting the students listed as users. The bank was unable to send messages to more than 70% of the email addresses Javice provided, and discovered that Frank had fewer than 300,000 actual customers.

Most of Frank’s client base was fabricated by Javice with the assistance of a data science professor, who was paid $18,000 to participate in the deception, per WSJ.

According to Business Insider, Hellerstein said that Javice was “a good person,” but that “others need to be deterred” from following her path.

“I don’t think you will be committing any crimes,” Hellerstein told Javice.

Who Is Charlie Javice?

Javice is a 32-year-old entrepreneur who created the student financial aid platform Frank in 2017. The purpose of the website was to help students fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and apply for scholarships.

After Javice sold Frank to JPMorgan, the bank discovered that Javice had falsified user information, creating millions of accounts, and filed a lawsuit. In March, Javice was convicted on four counts: conspiracy, wire fraud, securities fraud, and bank fraud.

Key Takeaways

Charlie Javice was sentenced to 85 months in prison for defrauding JPMorgan Chase.
Javice’s finance startup, Frank, was acquired by JPMorgan for $175 million in 2021.
In addition to spending time behind bars, the judge ordered Javice to pay $22.4 million.

Six months after being found guilty of defrauding JPMorgan Chase & Co., startup founder Charlie Javice has been sentenced to a little over seven years in prison.

U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein delivered the sentence on Monday in Manhattan federal court, adding that the 85-month prison time would be followed by three years of supervised release. Prosecutors had asked for a harsher 12-year prison sentence.

Javice, 32, will also have to pay restitution and forfeiture. Prosecutors asked the court to require Javice to forfeit about $20 million currently held in her frozen accounts, per The Wall Street Journal. Hellerstein ultimately required Javice to forfeit $22.4 million, per Bloomberg.