• Charlie Javice sentenced to over seven years for defrauding JPMorgan Chase.
• Javice's startup Frank was sold to JPMorgan for $175 million based on inflated customer data.
• The judge criticized JPMorgan's due diligence process during the acquisition.

Charlie Javice, the former CEO of the fintech startup Frank, was sentenced to **over seven years in prison** for defrauding JPMorgan Chase when the bank acquired her company for **$175 million**. A jury found her guilty of multiple fraud counts after she provided **falsified customer data**, claiming Frank had over **4 million users** while it actually had around **300,000**. She was convicted of bank fraud, securities fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit fraud in March this year, according to Reuters and New York Times.

At the sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge **Alvin Hellerstein** emphasized that Javice's actions required "a great deal of duplicity," while also pointing out the **poor due diligence** conducted by JPMorgan. He stated that fraud remains fraud “whether you outsmart someone who is smart or someone who is a fool.” The judge's comments reflect a broader sentiment regarding corporate responsibility among large financial institutions, as noted by India Times and BBC.

Before her arrest in 2023, Javice had garnered acclaim as a rising star in the fintech sector, even appearing on Forbes' "30 Under 30" list. However, during her attempts to secure the acquisition, she resorted to **creating synthetic user lists**, portraying them as legitimate. Prosecutors revealed that **real names and emails were purchased** from data brokers to support her claims, fundamentally deceiving JPMorgan and leading to catastrophic consequences for the bank, according to India Times and Reuters.

Following the verdict, Javice expressed remorse to the judge and apologized to JPMorgan’s stakeholders and employees affected by the scandal. Although she had pleaded not guilty and plans to appeal the conviction, the severity of her actions and their implications have sparked a larger discourse on the accountability mechanisms for startups engaging with major financial institutions, according to New York Times and BBC.