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The criminal trial against fintech startup founder Charlie Javice began on Friday, with lawyers laying out their opening arguments, Reuters reported.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n Lawyers reiterated their original claims and defenses from the lawsuit filed<\/a> by JPMorgan Chase against Javice in December of 2022. The financial services giant alleges that Javice helped \u201cfake millions of customers in order to induce the bank to buy her company,\u201d student financial planning aid startup Frank, for $175 million. That charge was also the root of an SEC complaint<\/a>, which charged that Javice \u201cmade numerous misrepresentations\u201d about Frank\u2019s purported millions of users to entice JPMorgan.<\/p>\n JPMorgan claims that it found out about the alleged fraud when more than 70% of marketing test emails to a list of Frank\u2019s customers bounced back.\u00a0<\/p>\n Javice\u2019s attorneys claim that JPMorgan did ample diligence and this suit is a result of buyer\u2019s remorse due to a government change in the way financial aid forms are filled out; they say alleging fraud was a way to get out of the deal.<\/p>\n Javice, now 32 years old, could be sentenced to numerous years in prison if she\u2019s convicted of deception and creating fake data.<\/p>\n Want more fintech news in your inbox? Sign up for TechCrunch Fintech\u00a0<\/em>here<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n Want to reach out with a tip? Email me at\u00a0maryann@techcrunch.com<\/a>\u00a0or send me a message on Signal at 408.204.3036. You can also send a note to the whole TechCrunch crew at\u00a0tips@techcrunch.com<\/a>. For more secure communications,\u00a0<\/em>click here to contact us<\/em><\/a>, which includes SecureDrop and links to encrypted messaging apps.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n