Federal prosecutors are demanding a 12-year prison sentence for Charlie Javice, the once-celebrated fintech entrepreneur who was convicted of defrauding JPMorgan Chase out of $175 million.
In a blistering filing late Monday, prosecutors called Javice’s scheme “audacious” and blasted her last-minute apology as “hollow.”
“Only on the eve of her sentencing does Javice now claim that she accepts responsibility,” federal prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum that was filed late Monday. The memo was first reported by Business Insider.
Prosecutors reacted to Javice’s letter from last week asking US District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein to spare her of prison time.
Javice wrote in the letter that she takes “full responsibility” while invoking her grandmother, a Holocaust survivor.
She also cited her age and the impact a prison sentence could have on her ability to one day have a family and bear children.
“Only on the eve of her sentencing does Javice now claim that she accepts responsibility,” according to prosecutors. “Her self-serving assertions ring hollow when measured against her conduct.”
Javice, 34, was convicted in March of orchestrating a massive fraud to trick JPMorgan into paying $175 million for her college financial-aid platform, Frank.
Prosecutors said Javice created fake spreadsheets that claimed to show the company had personal and financial data for more than 4 million students — when, in reality, the database had information about just 300,000 students.
Javice “led an audacious and multifaceted criminal scheme built on sustained deceptive conduct” that lasted a period of more than two years, according to prosecutors.
In its filing on Monday, the government pegged JPMorgan’s total loss at more than $300 million, including the $175 million purchase price, salaries, retention payments, indemnified legal fees and interest .
“Javice’s conduct was not a one-time ‘lapse of judgment’ during period of high stress, as she claims,” federal prosecutors wrote.
“To the contrary, the defendants’ fraud scheme was well planned, highly orchestrated, and persistent.”
Federal prosecutors slammed Javice for a fraud that was “borne of her personal greed and ambition.”
“Indeed, having been educated at an elite New York school and an Ivy League college, Javice had many choices in life,” federal prosecutors wrote.
“When it came to selling her company, however, she chose to lie and to commit fraud from the beginning through to the end.”
Javice, a native of White Plains, NY, in Westchester County, attended the French-American School of New York, a bilingual and international school that charges an annual tuition that ranges from around $38,000 to nearly $45,000.
After graduating FASNY, Javice attended Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where she completed a bachelor’s degree in finance and legal studies.
According to prosecutors, Javice’s fraud enabled her to pocket $28 million in merger proceeds and she “stood to receive nearly $50 million.”
“And while she did not immediately go out and buy a yacht, Javice’s massive haul gave her access to big-name investment funds that are unavailable to the vast majority of investors,” federal prosecutors wrote.
The feds accused Javice of trying to hide her tracks after the fraud came to light.
When JPMorgan fired her in September 2022, she transferred funds from her checking and savings accounts to accounts in the names of newly established limited liability corporations, according to prosecutors.
In March 2023, Javice “moved millions of dollars to an account in the name of an LLC controlled by her boyfriend,” prosecutors wrote.
“Make no mistake, Javice was motivated by greed, and her greed continued after the fraud came to light.”
Javice’s sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 29.
The Post has sought comment from Javice. JPMorgan declined to comment.
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