The JPMorgan Chase case against a fintech startup accused of misrepresenting its user base with millions of fake accounts is heating up. In court papers filed Monday, Charlie Javice — who allegedly colluded with Frank exec Olivier Amar and an unnamed data scientist to make up 4.25 million customers — stated that billionaire Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon was personally interested in acquiring her company.
Fortune reports Dimon allegedly told Javice he thought his company should “get the deal done” prior to the $175 million acquisition. The founder also argues that JPMorgan knew her financial aid company’s true size and did the deal anyway. As a result, she is reportedly demanding the case go to trial.
In response to questions filed in a Delaware court, Javice wrote that JPMorgan’s lawsuit against Frank amounts to a “massive CYA effort by those responsible inside JPMC (JPMorgan Chase) to shift the blame for a failed and now-regretted acquisition to someone they viewed as an easy target: its young female founder.”
Here’s more from Fortune by way of Yahoo Finance:
Javice contends JPMorgan Chase knew exactly what it was getting when it bought Frank, which claimed to simplify the financial aid process, in 2021. The bank only needed to look at public information, valuations for comparable companies at the time, and its own diligence to get an accurate picture of Frank, the court filing said. By its own admission, JPMorgan Chase conducted several weeks of due diligence on Frank during the summer of 2021, Fortune has reported, citing JPMorgan’s December lawsuit. Javice, in her initial complaint against JPMorgan for expenses, said the bank committed considerable resources to the deal, involving hundreds of its employees in diligence of Frank
JPMorgan Chase spokesman Pablo Rodriguez responded that the company’s “legal claims against Ms. Javice and Mr. Amar are set out in our complaint, along with the key facts. We stand behind our allegations, and this dispute will be resolved through the legal process.”
