Charlie Javice, the founder of college financial aid startup Frank, is reportedly seeking a presidential pardon from Donald Trump. In September 2025, Javice was sentenced to over seven years in prison for orchestrating a major fraud against JPMorgan Chase. [1, 2, 5]
The conviction stems from JPMorgan's $175 million acquisition of Frank in 2021. [7] Javice was found guilty of conspiracy, wire, bank, and securities fraud for grossly inflating her company's user base to secure the deal. [2, 4] She claimed Frank had 4.25 million customers when it actually had fewer than 300,000. [2, 3, 7] JPMorgan's CEO later called the acquisition a "huge mistake." [2]