---
title: "Scandal: JPMorgan accuses founder of faking 4m+ accounts"
description: JPMorgan Chase claims the founder of a financial aid platform faked 4m+ accounts prior to its $175m acquisition.
---

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# [Scandal: JPMorgan accuses founder of faking 4m+ accounts](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/news/01132023-jpmorgan-frank)

 Written by [Juliet Bennett Rylah](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/news/author/juliet-bennett-rylah) | Jan 13, 2023 9:27:43 AM

In 2021, JPMorgan Chase paid [$175m](https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/21/jpmorgan-chase-is-buying-college-financial-aid-platform-frank.html) for Frank, a college financial aid platform.

But if you go to the website [today](https://withfrank.org/), it tells you it’s no longer available and to file your FAFSA at StudentAid.gov.

#### **What happened?**

At the time of the acquisition, founder Charlie Javice claimed Frank had 4.25m customers, [per](https://www.wsj.com/articles/jpmorgan-bought-college-financial-aid-platform-for-175-millionand-now-says-most-of-its-users-were-fake-11673470572) *The Wall Street Journal*.

But when JPMorgan sent emails to 400k users, only 28% were delivered, [per](https://www.docdroid.net/IPtofYM/charlie-javice-v-jpmorgan-chase-bank-na-et-al-1-pdf#page=9) court filings.

Now, JPMorgan is suing Javice and Frank exec Olivier Amar, alleging they faked 4m+ accounts to bolster the startup’s value when, in reality, it had less than 300k customers.

#### **The dirt**

JPMorgan claims that when it asked Javice to prove her customer count, she initially declined, citing privacy concerns, but eventually produced a list.

JPMorgan alleges she paid a data science professor $18k to make fake accounts to match her claims, after Frank’s engineering chief refused to, per court filings.

- In one email to the professor, Javice allegedly wrote, “Will the fake emails look real with an eye check or better to use unique ID?”
- Amar is [accused](https://www.docdroid.net/IPtofYM/charlie-javice-v-jpmorgan-chase-bank-na-et-al-1-pdf#page=7) of paying ASL Marketing $105k for a data set of 4.5m students.

Javice’s lawyer claims JPMorgan is lying because it owes the founder millions, which JPMorgan denies.

#### **Interestingly, in 2020…**

… members of Congress expressed concern that Frank was not making things easier for students, creating unnecessary work for financial aid administrators, and potentially selling student data, [per](https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexandralevine/2023/01/11/jp-morgan-fake-customers-frank-charlie-javice/?sh=2116ff4314d4) *Forbes*.

The FTC also [accused](https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/warning-letters/covid-19-letter_to_frank.pdf) Frank of potentially misleading customers.

**Fun fact:** Over on Twitter, @stonks_dot_com [pointed out](https://mobile.twitter.com/Stonks_dot_com/status/1613607263608131594) that Javice was a *Forbes 30 Under 30* recipient, alongside esteemed colleagues Sam Bankman-Fried, Caroline Ellison, and Martin Shkreli.

[View full post](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/news/01132023-jpmorgan-frank)

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