October 1, 2025

Big drama in the business world! Charlie Javice, the founder of the startup Frank, was sentenced on Monday to 85 months—almost 7 years—in federal prison for fraud. Back in March, she was found guilty of three counts of fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit fraud. Federal prosecutors had wanted a longer sentence of 144 months, but the judge settled on 85 instead. What happened? Frank was supposed to help students fill out financial aid forms easily. But investors saw a bigger prize — owning a huge list of customers that banks could grab. JPMorgan Chase loved this idea and bought Frank for a whopping $175 million! However, there was a sneaky twist. The customer list was way smaller than Javice claimed, The New York Times reported. To cover this up, Ms. Javice cooked up something called "synthetic data" with the help of a math professor, Adam Kapelner, who didn't know why she needed fake customers. They added millions of fake names. To make these fake customers look real, Ms. Javice and Olivier Amar, Frank’s chief growth officer, even bought real names and emails from data brokers. They knew JPMorgan would test the list, so they had to mix fake with real to trick them. During the sentencing, Ms. Javice told the judge, "I accept the jury’s verdict and take full responsibility for my actions." She also tearfully apologized to JPMorgan shareholders, the company's team, her parents, boyfriend, and Frank employees, The New York Times shared. JPMorgan's due diligence team missed the fake data during the acquisition. Later, the bank realized they "acquired a crime scene," as Assistant U.S. Attorney Micah F. Fergenson said in court. Ms. Javice’s lawyers tried hard to get a lighter punishment. They showed 114 support letters from all kinds of people like four rabbis, a cantor, a judge who had been in jail before, two doormen, and a marina worker from her Miami Beach neighborhood. Many letters mentioned her fertility treatments and fears that prison could stop her from having children. This jaw-dropping fraud case reminds us how a little fake data can build a business empire that crashes hard—hurting many along the way!

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Tags: Charlie javice, Jpmorgan chase, Fraud case, Frank company, Financial aid scam, Synthetic data,