Key executive convicted of defrauding JPMorgan Chase is sentenced to over 5 years in prison
NEW YORK (AP) — A top executive at a start-up company that streamlines the process for college students applying for financial aid was sentenced Wednesday to more than five years in prison for deceiving JPMorgan Chase in its $175 million acquisition of the company four years ago.
The sentence handed down to Olivier Amar by the Manhattan federal court came a month later. Charlie JaviceThe founder of the startup, known as Frank, was sentenced to seven years in prison.
Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein, who sentenced Amar to five years and eight months in prison, said Amar was “intimately involved in the fraud”; this included creating documents that claimed the company had over 4 million teenage customers when in fact it had fewer than 400,000.
“Even though you were not the instigator of the fraud or the person who made the most false statements, you were an important part of it,” he said.
The pair were convicted by a jury in March of presenting false records to the bank to convince it that Frank had millions of customers while the deal was being negotiated in the summer of 2021. At the hearing, witnesses, including bank employees, testified that the number of customers was significant because JPMorgan Chase hoped they would start using the bank’s financial services.
Before the sentence was announced, Amar choked up talking about the damage the scandal had inflicted on his family, saying it was a pain that “will haunt me forever.”
He said he was “deeply saddened” that the company, which was founded to make it easier for students to apply and receive financial aid, was no longer in business, especially because it helped students get to college and stay there.
“I am heartbroken over the pain following Frank’s fall,” Amar said.
In addition to the prison sentence, the judge also ordered Amar to pay $223 million in compensation. That figure includes $54 million in legal fees that prosecutors say the bank was contractually required to pay on Amar’s behalf because he and Javice worked at the company after the acquisition took place.
