Startup Executive Sentenced to Over 5 Years for Fraud in $175 Million Deal

Wed Nov 19 2025 10:25:20 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

Olivier Amar, a top executive at the now-defunct financial aid startup Frank, has been sentenced to five years and eight months in prison after being found guilty of defrauding JPMorgan Chase during the acquisition of his company.

Olivier Amar was sentenced for his role in a fraud that misrepresented the customer base of his startup, Frank, to JPMorgan Chase during a $175 million acquisition in 2021. Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein highlighted Amar's significant involvement in the fraud, which included creating false documents claiming the startup had millions of customers. Amar was also ordered to pay $223 million in restitution. His co-founder, Charlie Javice, was sentenced to seven years earlier for the same case. Both expressed deep regret over the impact on students the company aimed to serve.

NEW YORK (AP) — Olivier Amar, a top executive at the startup company Frank, which aimed to simplify financial aid applications for college students, was sentenced Wednesday to over five years in prison for his role in a fraudulent $175 million acquisition by JPMorgan Chase four years ago.

The sentencing took place in a Manhattan federal court, following the earlier sentencing of Charlie Javice, the founder of Frank, who received a seven-year prison term.

Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein sentenced Amar to five years and eight months, citing his significant involvement in the fraud. Amar was noted for creating false documents that claimed Frank had over 4 million customers, while the actual number was less than 400,000.

Although you were not the instigator of the fraud or the person who made the most misrepresentations, you were a key part of it, the judge remarked during the sentencing.

A jury found both Amar and Javice guilty in March for presenting fake records to JPMorgan Chase to convince bank officials of Frank's customer size during the deal negotiation in the summer of 2021. Testimonies revealed that customer numbers were critical, as JPMorgan Chase expected many would begin using its financial services.

Before the sentence was handed down, Amar became emotional while discussing the personal and professional harm caused by the scandal, lamenting that it would haunt him forever.

He expressed sorrow that the company, created to help students secure financial aid, was no longer operational and highlighted the suffering caused by Frank's downfall. Amar stated, I’m heartbroken by the suffering caused in the aftermath of Frank’s downfall. In addition to his prison sentence, Amar was ordered to pay $223 million in restitution, including $54 million in legal fees related to the case.