Reported by LUISA BELTRAN

Dealmakers have little sympathy for Charlie Javice, the startup founder who was convicted last week of tricking JPMorgan Chase into buying her startup. Javice, who just turned 33 last month, faces years in prison after a jury found her guilty of multiple counts of fraud. One venture executive said they would’ve been shocked if a jury had acquitted Javice. “This was an open-and-shut case…[Javice] created fake customers and left a clear paper trail!” the VC wrote in an email.

“This was just regular ego-driven fraud,” one private equity executive told Fortune. These individuals, and others quoted in the story, asked not to be identified in order to speak freely.

But even as the Wall Street community concludes Javice got what she deserved, some are asking how she was able to con JPMorgan Chase—a giant and sophisticated bank with an army of top-notch lawyers—in the first place. 

A hot startup’s $175M con 

In 2017, Javice launched Frank, a financial aid startup that helped users fill out the complex Free Application for Federal Student Aid forms. Four years later, Javice was a 28-year-old media darling who appeared often on CNBC and had made the Forbes 30 Under 30 list, when she sold Frank to JPMorgan Chase for $175 million in September 2021.

Read full report: https://fortune.com/2025/04/01/wall-street-charlie-javice-jpmorgan-chase-bank-of-america-fraud-bernie-madoff-synthetic-data/