In December 2022, JP Morgan Chase filed suit against Charlie Javice, the 30-year-old founder of fintech startup Frank, which the bank purchased for $175 million. Morgan alleges Javice misled it regarding Frank’s value by faking a massive list of customers to convince Morgan it was a worthwhile purchase.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Morgan filed the suit in Delaware, naming Javice and fellow Frank exec Olivier Amar. Court documents depict an alleged deception that began in 2021 when Javice approached the bank about an acquisition, claiming that Frank had 4.25 million users. The company had just under 300,000 users at the time.
Here’s more from WSJ:
“Rather than reveal the truth, Javice first pushed back on [JPMorgan’s] request, arguing that she could not share her customer list due to privacy concerns,” the bank said in its court filing. “After [JPMorgan] insisted, Javice chose to invent several million Frank customer accounts out of whole cloth.”
Javice — who Morgan fired in November 2022 — initiated her own legal claim in Delaware a few days before Morgan sued her. In her suit, she says Morgan owes her millions to compensate for money she spent in her defense when Morgan began internal investigations.
According to Javice, Morgan “deliberately fabricated a termination for cause in bad faith.” She also says Morgan is evading paying her $28…
