A Manhattan federal jury delivered a dramatic verdict on Friday, convicting Frank founder Charlie Javice and former executive Olivier Amar of masterminding an elaborate scheme that deceived JPMorgan Chase & Co. into paying $175 million for a now-defunct student financial aid startup.
A High-Stakes Deception
After two days of deliberations, the jury found Javice and Amar guilty of securities fraud, bank fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy, concluding a lengthy trial presided over by U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein of the Southern District of New York.
Prosecutors laid out a web of deceit, alleging that the pair exaggerated Frank’s user base, claiming the platform had 4.25 million registered students. In reality, the number was only in the low hundreds of thousands.
The Illusion of Growth
In 2021 and 2022, Javice and Amar allegedly supplied JPMorgan with falsified data to make Frank appear as an attractive acquisition, only to later fabricate more numbers to sustain the lie post-acquisition.
