Javice was convicted for defrauding JPMorgan Chase into buying her college financial aid startup Frank for $175m<\/b>
\nJavice was convicted for defrauding JPMorgan Chase into buying her college financial aid startup Frank for $175m
Charlie Javice, the entrepreneur convicted for defrauding JPMorgan Chase into buying her college financial aid startup Frank for $175m, was sentenced on Monday to just over seven years in prison.
Alvin Hellerstein, the US district judge, handed down the sentence at a hearing in Manhattan federal court.
Javice, 33, was convicted in March on all four counts she faced: bank fraud, securities fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy. She had pleaded not guilty and is expected to appeal her conviction. Prosecutors with the Manhattan US attorney\u2019s office had sought a 12-year prison sentence.
Javice founded Frank in 2017, and won praise for simplifying college financial aid for students and parents. She became a rising star in finance, and appeared on Forbes magazine\u2019s \u201c30 Under 30\u201d list in 2019.
JPMorgan bought Frank in September 2021, but found itself unable to email much of Javice\u2019s claimed customer base, and concluded she faked her customer list.
Prosecutors said Javice claimed she had 4.25 million customers, but the real number was closer to 300,000. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon called buying Frank a \u201chuge mistake\u201d.
Lawyers for Javice sought a prison term significantly shorter than 12 years, calling her \u201clapse of judgment\u201d an aberration and the harm to JPMorgan inconsequential.
Javice added prominent appellate lawyer Alexandra Shapiro to her legal team this month. Shapiro\u2019s other clients include hip-hop mogul Sean \u201cDiddy\u201d Combs, who is expected to appeal his conviction on prostitution-related charges, and cryptocurrency executive Sam Bankman-Fried, who is appealing his fraud conviction and 25-year prison sentence.
Javice\u2019s co-defendant Olivier Amar, who was Frank\u2019s chief growth officer, was convicted on the same counts as her. His sentencing is scheduled for 20 October.<\/p>\n