By Alexander Saeedy

Charlie Javice was sentenced to more than seven years in prison for defrauding JPMorgan Chase when she sold her startup to the megabank for $175 million and provided bogus evidence that her company had millions of customers that didn't actually exist.

Prosecutors had recommended she spend 12 years in jail for the fraud, which captured Wall Street's attention for tricking the nation's biggest bank, famed for its dealmaking acumen.

JPMorgan Chase was fraudulently induced to buy Javice's startup, Judge Alvin Hellerstein of the Southern District of New York, said before delivering the sentence. "The lie was embellished through very clever means."

He sentenced her to 85 months in custody and ordered that she be placed under three years of supervised release once she leaves prison.

"This was an audacious criminal scheme," Assistant U.S. Attorney Micah Fergenson said in court on Monday. "JPMorgan Chase didn't acquire a company. They acquired a crime scene."

On Monday, the judge also ordered that Javice and another executive pay around $288 million in restitution, including some $115 million in legal fees the bank accrued.

Hellerstein ruled that Javice will have to pay approximately 10% of her monthly earnings to cover the restitution, which is well in excess of her existing wealth.

When Javice launched Frank, a startup focused on helping students get access to financial aid, she was hailed as an up-and-coming female entrepreneur. Months after the sale, JPMorgan learned the number of people with Frank accounts was around 300,000 -- far less than the four million users Javice had said it had during the sale process.

She was arrested in 2023. The weekslong trial in Manhattan this spring brought to light embarrassing details about the bank's failed due-diligence process. A jury returned a guilty verdict on several counts of fraud in March.

Javice maintained her innocence during the whole trial, but she acknowledged that she "made mistakes."

"At 28, I did something that goes against the grain of my upbringing," Javice said Monday while in tears and clutching a handful of tissues. "Not a day goes by that I do not feel profound remorse. I am deeply sorry, and I am asking with all my heart for forgiveness."

Several of Javice's former business associates and friends wrote to the court to ask the judge for leniency.

Marc Rowan, chief executive of Apollo Global Management and a personal investor in Javice's startup, said "she loved to help people who needed help" and that "her thoughtful commitment to this mission is one of the reasons I decided to invest with her."

Rowan, who also testified in Javice's defense at the trial, said in a letter to Judge Hellerstein that he believes "she will make many meaningful contributions to society moving forward."

Javice's attorneys told Hellerstein that JPMorgan's failure to conduct proper due diligence should weigh in favor of her receiving a more lenient sentence. Other financial firms, such as Capital One, considered buying Frank but declined after looking at a sample of the company's user data.

"We would never ask you to punish JPMorgan Chase's stupidity," said Ronald Sullivan, one of Javice's lead attorneys. "But we submit that it's a relevant factor."

Javice's attorneys say they plan to appeal her conviction and asked that she be granted bail while that process plays out. They said she has had problems with fertility and is trying to start a family with her boyfriend, Elliot Bertram.

Hellerstein said that he would grant the bail on moral grounds for that reason.

"It would be wrong not to think of it," he said.

Write to Alexander Saeedy at alexander.saeedy@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 29, 2025 17:15 ET (21:15 GMT)

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