Prosecutor: Frank Founder Lied to JPMorgan Chase to Secure $175 Million Deal
Frank founder Charlie Javice is accused of fabricating her startup’s user data to secure a $175 million sale to JPMorgan Chase & Co., a fraud detailed during closing arguments in a lengthy trial.
Published on March 31, 2025
In closing remarks in New York, prosecutors argued that Charlie Javice, founder of the student-finance startup Frank, deliberately inflated the company’s user numbers to over 4.25 million from a much smaller base in order to secure a $175 million deal with JPMorgan Chase & Co. The case, unfolding over a five-week trial in Manhattan federal court, detailed how Javice allegedly commissioned fake data after an in-house engineer refused to create it, in what prosecutors described as a case of brazen fraud.
Supplemental details from multiple sources reveal that the inflated numbers were part of a broader strategy aimed at ensuring the sale went through at a premium valuation in 2021. Despite Javice’s lawyer calling the charges flawed due to a lack of evidence, the prosecution maintained that the fraudulent data was central to convincing JPMorgan of Frank’s inflated value. The trial has drawn parallels to other high-profile financial deceptions, and further sentencing details are pending as the case moves forward in the judicial system.