Frank
Student financial-aid startup bought by JPMorgan in 2021
- Entries
- 9
- On the record
- 3
- Stories
- 1
- Latest entry
- Jun 14, 2026
The record
Frank was a student financial-aid startup that Charlie Javice launched in 2017, when she was 24, to help students fill out the federal FAFSA application for college aid. JPMorgan Chase bought it in September 2021 for $175 million as a way to reach college students. Javice had pitched the company as having 4.25 million users, a figure at the center of everything that followed.
In December 2022 JPMorgan sued Javice in federal court in Delaware, alleging Frank had fewer than 300,000 customer accounts and that she paid a data science professor $18,000 to create a list of about 4.265 million fake ones. Her lawyer, Alex Spiro, called the suit retaliatory and said the bank had received all the data up front. Javice also sued the bank over her legal bills, saying she had blown the whistle; JPMorgan said she was not a whistleblower.
JPMorgan shut down the Frank website on January 12, 2023, replacing it with a notice that Frank was no longer available. Javice and Olivier Amar, Frank's chief growth officer, were later prosecuted, and Javice was found guilty of fraud over the sale. She was sentenced on September 29, 2025, to 85 months in prison and is appealing. In June 2026 CNBC, citing The Wall Street Journal, reported that she was seeking a pardon.
Roles and honours on the record
Every entry, newest first
- Reported
JPMorgan shut down the Frank website after alleging its founder created nearly 4 million fake customer accounts. Charlie Javice gets 85 months; JPMorgan paid $175M for Frank
Stories in this file
The record, entry by entry
- 2017 Reported Charlie Javice launched Frank at age 24 as a service to help students apply for college financial aid, CBS News reported. CBS News report
- 2021-09 Reported JPMorgan Chase bought Frank for $175 million to reach college students, CNBC reported. CNBC report
- 2022-12 Filed JPMorgan sued Javice, alleging Frank had fewer than 300,000 customer accounts rather than the 4.25 million she pitched, and that she paid a data science professor $18,000 to build a list of about 4.265 million fake accounts. Her lawyer Alex Spiro called the suit retaliatory and misleading. CBS News report
- 2023-01 Filed Javice had sued JPMorgan asking it to cover her legal bills; her lawyer said she blew the whistle and was then sued, while JPMorgan said she was not and is not a whistleblower, CNBC reported. CNBC report
- 2023-01-12 Reported JPMorgan shut the Frank platform; the site displayed a notice that Frank was no longer available. CNBC report
- 2025-04 Reported After Javice was found guilty of fraud over the Frank sale, Judge Alvin Hellerstein required her to wear a GPS ankle monitor while free on a $2 million bond before sentencing; Olivier Amar, Frank's chief growth officer, was her co-defendant, Fortune reported. Fortune report
- 2025-09-29 Ruled Javice was sentenced to 85 months in prison for defrauding JPMorgan in the sale of Frank. She is appealing the verdict, CNBC reported. CNBC report
- 2026-06-14 Reported CNBC, citing The Wall Street Journal, reported that Javice was seeking a pardon from the Trump administration. A spokesman for her declined to comment. CNBC report