Jakarta –
Top financial company from the United States, JP Morgan Chase (JPMC) admits to being deceived, after acquiring a fintech startup named Frank. JPMC claims that Frank, Charlie Javice and Oliver Amar have falsified user data startup. Frank on charges of falsifying user numbers.
Frank itself is a startup that provides services in the form of educational loans to students in the US. JPMC acquired Frank for a fee of US$ 175 million or around Rp. 2.6 trillion (in an exchange rate of Rp. 15,250).
Reporting from Forbes, Sunday (15/01/2023), Frank allegedly faked the number of his users. The startup claims to have 4.25 million users, even though the original users are only 300 thousand people.
This information was contained in a lawsuit that JPMC filed with the US District Court court in Delaware late last year. This lie was detected after it sent marketing emails to 400,000 of Frank’s subscribers. But apparently, 70% of the emails were returned.
One bank that worked closely with both parties post-acquisition said Javice and Amar asked director of engineering Frank to produce bogus customer details after JP Morgan asked for user details as part of takeover talks.
After his technical director refused, Javice is then alleged to have paid $18,000 to a data science professor to create millions of fake accounts using synthetic data.
Javice’s own lawyers have denied the allegations. In fact, Javice instead filed a counterclaim stating that JP Morgan was trying to undermine the acquisition agreement that had been agreed upon.
JP Morgan closed Frank’s operations on Thursday after the lawsuit went public. Javice himself continued to work as managing director overseeing Frank’s products after the acquisition was made. However, JPMC suspended its work in November.
On the other hand, JP Morgan Chase Chief Executive Jamie Dimon admitted that the party had made a mistake in the acquisition of Frank, which had been carried out since September 2021.
“The acquisition was a huge mistake. Obviously when you wake up 300 times a year you are going to have something wrong, and we don’t want our company to be afraid of mistakes and do nothing about it,” Dimon said in a meeting with analysts.
This fraud case shocked the public, because Javice was included in the Forbes 30 under 30 list in the Finance category in 2019. The list contains 30 young figures under 30 years of age who have flashy achievements and major contributions to society.
Javice is on the list because he has worked on Frank’s startup, which can speed up and simplify the process of applying for student loans in the United States.
Forbes says Javice founded Frank from just 15 members in 2016. Since then, he has raised US$16 million in funding for Frank. The startup he has created is also claimed to have helped 300,000 users apply for financial assistance.
Watch Video “Elon Musk’s answer to Tesla’s Call to Immediately Build a Factory in RI“
[Gambas:Video 20detik]
(zlf/zlf)
