Charlie Javice, founder of the student loan startup Frank, was found guilty on Mar. 28 of defrauding JPMorgan Chase during its US$175 million acquisition of her company in 2021.

A jury determined after a five-week trial that she fabricated customer data to mislead the bank.

Prosecutors revealed she falsely claimed Frank had 4 million users, while JPMorgan later found only 300,000 were legitimate.

Marketing emails sent to supposed customers had a 70% bounce rate, exposing the fraud.

The jury agreed that Javice hired a math professor to create fake customer information to support her inflated figures.

Her defense argued the case stemmed from buyer’s remorse due to changes in government financial aid processes. She pleaded not guilty and did not testify.

Now 32, she faces a possible decades-long prison sentence, with sentencing set for August 2025.

Javice founded Frank in 2017 to simplify financial aid applications for students. She was previously featured on Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list in 2019.