1984 Wharton graduate Marc Rowan (left) filed a letter asking the U.S. district judge to consider 2013 Wharton graduate Charlie Javice’s (right) “full character” when passing a sentence (Photos Courtesy of the Wharton School).
Prominent Penn alumnus Marc Rowan sent a letter of support to United States District Judge Alvin Hellerstein ahead of 2013 Wharton graduate Charlie Javice’s Sept. 29 fraud sentencing.
In March, Javice was found guilty on all charges of fraud and conspiracy in JPMorgan Chase’s $175 million acquisition of her startup, Frank — and currently faces a possible three decades-long prison sentence. As the sentencing date approaches, the defense has filed letters written by individuals close to Javice asking Hellerstein to consider Javice’s “full character” in the court’s final decision.
Rowan — who serves as the chair of the Wharton School’s Board of Advisors — sent his letter to Hellerstein on Sept. 11, writing that he hoped to “offer a more complete picture of who Charlie is as a person.”
Rowan declined a request for comment.
“I was impressed by Charlie’s passion, creativity, intelligence and hard-work to develop the educational platform that grew into Frank,” Rowan wrote in the letter. “I became an early investor in Frank (in my personal capacity) and also became a board member. I watched Charlie grow as a young, creative and dedicated entrepreneur.”
In 2018, Javice told The Daily Pennsylvanian that Rowan served as Frank’s lead investor.
In the letter, Rowan highlighted his role as CEO and chair of the board of Apollo Global Management, writing that he invested in Javice because “she was hard working, thoughtful, humble and creative.”
Rowan cited Javice’s activity as a special advisor to the Wharton Social Impact Initiative programs during “college years at the University of Pennsylvania.” He wrote that her “thoughtful commitment to this mission” was one of the reasons he “decided to invest with her.”
He also emphasized Javice’s “resilience, intelligence and dedication to helping people in need,” adding that she has remained a “positive and upbeat person through these challenging past years.”
In March, Rowan testified as a defense witness and expressed similar sentiments.
Javice also mentioned her “resilience” in her own letter to Hellerstein, dated Sept. 12.
“These last five years have been defined by pain and loss—of my company, my career, my reputation, and many friendships,” Javice wrote. “As the day of my sentencing grows near, I am sustained by hope—hope that has been tested but never broken, and embodied in the words of Golda Meir: ‘Pessimism is a luxury that a Jew can never allow himself.’”
Javice will be sentenced in two weeks at the Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse in the Southern District of New York.
She also noted that her letter’s intent is not to seek “forgiveness or to erase the seriousness of the past,” but for a “chance to rebuild” so that she can “learn, grow, and do better every day.”
Rowan similarly expressed confidence in Javice’s personal character.
“I feel she will make many meaningful contributions to society moving forward,” he wrote. “I respectfully ask that you impose a lenient sentence.”
The letters of support come after a five-week trial — which began in February and concluded on March 28 in New York — that investigated Javice and her partner, Olivier Amar, for their involvement in falsifying records that exaggerated Frank’s customer base tenfold in order to secure the company’s acquisition.
JPMorgan filed a lawsuit against Javice in December 2022 — one month after firing her. The bank alleged that Javice lied about the number of customers her startup had, claiming she created over 4 million fake user accounts. According to the lawsuit, Frank had fewer than 300,000 actual users.
Sign up for our newsletter
Get our newsletter, DP Daybreak, delivered to your inbox every weekday morning.
In 2018, Frank settled with the federal government over accusations that the startup was misrepresenting its ties to the Department of Education.
Two years later, bipartisan members of Congress wrote a letter to the Federal Trade Commission claiming that Frank was creating confusion for students by advertising a nonexistent universal application for COVID-19 pandemic-era student relief funds.
Javice countersued JPMorgan in 2023, claiming that 4 million users did go on Frank’s website to read articles about financial aid processes. She did not dispute that less than half a million users used the platform to complete financial aid forms.
The Daily Pennsylvanian is an independent, student-run newspaper. Please consider making a donation to support the coverage that shapes the University. Your generosity ensures a future of strong journalism at Penn.