Charlie Javice, the founder of the Frank students’ start-up, was convicted on Friday for fraud of JPMORGAN Chase & Co. about the bank’s purchase of $ 175 million of its company.
The judgment was submitted by a Manhattan federal jury after a six -week trial that ended with only six hours of discussion.
Javice, 32, was found guilty of numerous charges, including banking fraud, after prosecutors successfully argued that she fabricated data to inflate Frank user base.
While Javice claimed that its platform had more than 4.25 million users, evidence showed that the current number was closer to 300,000.
Fraud, prosecutors said, was essential to ensure the purchase of JPMORGAN start in 2021.
Javice, significantly shocked by the result, sat quietly as the verdict was read.
Her defendants, Olivier Amar, who was also found guilty, looked down and shook his head. Friends and family members sitting in the courtroom appeared surprised.
The sentence will be made on a later date.
Although Javice faces up to 30 years in prison on the worst charge, legal experts suggest that she is likely to receive a significantly shorter sentence.
The verdict marks a dramatic decline for Javice, once celebrated as a rising star in Fintech.
Frank was launched in 2016 with the mission of simplifying the college financial assistance process.
Frank intended to help students navigate the free student federal app (FAFSA) app, claiming to simplify the application process and increase access.
Javice’s innovative approach won its points on prestigious lists as “30 under 30” for Forbes in 2019.
Appreciated for its students’ friendly tools and aggressive growth strategy, the company quickly attracted national attention-and eventually that of the country’s largest lender, JPMORGAN Chase.
The relationship began to be discovered at the end of 2022 when the bank filed a lawsuit against Javice, accusing him of misappropriation of the company’s metrics.
The complaint alleged that she and Amar hired a data science firm to generate a false user list to support inflated claims during proper care.
The Department of Justice later filed criminal charges, including wire fraud, securities and plot fraud.
Javice, who was arrested in April 2023 and released with a $ 2 million affair, pleaded not guilty and maintained her acquittal throughout the trial.
Her legal team argued that JPMORGAN had access to accurate data and failed to carry out proper care before the agreement.
However, prosecutors describe a calculated scheme to deceive investors and secure a lucrative agreement through fraud.
Witnesses proved that they were required to create fictitious information, while e -mail and internal documents presented during the court painted a clear view of deliberate behavior.
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