NEW YORK (AP) — The young chief executive of a startup that claimed to have helped millions of college students apply for financial aid deployed a “brazen fraud” to sell the company to JPMorgan Chase & Co. for $175 million, a prosecutor said Wednesday in a closing argument to a jury in New York.
Charlie Javice, who appeared on Forbes' “30 Under 30” list in 2019, is accused of dramatically exaggerating the customer base of her company, which operated under the name Frank. She and another former top executive face conspiracy and fraud charges.
Javice's lawyer, Jose Baez, urged the jury to acquit his 32-year-old client, calling the case against her “incredibly flawed.” He cited a lack of evidence.
As he spoke, Javice smiled at times and turned her chair to face the jury.
Frank was created to simplify filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, a complex government form used by students to apply for financial aid for college or graduate school.
Javice founded the company when she was in her mid-20s and was the subject of numerous media profiles that lauded her for building a system that would help financially needy students navigate a thicket of rules and eligibility requirements to get tuition aid.
The company once seemed like a pioneer among businesses that cater to college-age students, who banks encourage to open checking or credit card accounts in the hopes they’ll become lifelong customers.
Access to Frank's client list is one of the things JPMorgan Chase was after when it entered into talks to buy the company in 2021.
At the time, Javice was claiming Frank had over 4.25 million clients. In reality, it had around 400,000, Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Chiuchiolo told the jury.
Citing emails, text messages and other evidence, Chiuchiolo said Javice repeatedly lied to JPMorgan in the summer of 2021 to secure a buyout that would earn her $45 million.
When JPMorgan Chase sought to verify the client list, Javice first approached her company's head of engineering, asking if he could produce “synthetic data” to show the company had over 4 million customers, the prosecutor said.
But the employee refused, saying he “would not do anything illegal,” Chiuchiolo said.
Javice eventually hired an outside data scientist for $105,000 to create a data set showing over 4.2 million students, prosecutors said.
Javice did not testify during the five-week trial. The Miami Beach, Florida, resident was arrested in April 2023 and is free on bail. The jury was expected to begin deliberations Thursday.
FILE - Charlie Javice leaves Federal Court, Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Richard Chamberlain, the handsome hero of the 1960s television series "Dr. Kildare" who found a second career as an award-winning "king of the miniseries," has died. He was 90.
Chamberlain died Saturday night in Waimanalo, Hawaii, of complications following a stroke, according to his publicist, Harlan Boll.
“Our beloved Richard is with the angels now. He is free and soaring to those loved ones before us," Martin Rabbett, his lifelong partner, said in a statement. "How blessed were we to have known such an amazing and loving soul. Love never dies. And our love is under his wings lifting him to his next great adventure.”
Tall, with classic good looks and romantic style, Chamberlain became an instant favorite with teenage girls as the compassionate physician on the TV series that aired from 1961 to 1966. Photoplay magazine named him most popular male star for three years in a row, from 1963-65.
Not until 2003 did he acknowledge publicly what Hollywood insiders had long known, that he was gay. He made the revelation in his autobiography, "Shattered Love."
The actor became known as "king of the TV miniseries" in 1978 when he landed the starring role in "Centennial," an epic production 24 hours long and based on James Michener's sprawling novel. He followed that in 1980 with "Shogun," another costly, epic miniseries based on James Clavell's period piece about an American visitor to Japan.
He scored his greatest miniseries success in 1983 with another long-form drama, "The Thorn Birds," based on Colleen McCullough's best-seller. He played Father Ralph de Bricassart, a Roman Catholic priest in Australia who falls in love with beautiful Meggie Cleary (Rachel Ward). The ABC production, which also starred Barbara Stanwyck, reportedly attracted 100 million viewers.
Chamberlain won Golden Globes for his work in “Shogun" and “The Thorn Birds.” Years earlier, he received one for “Dr. Kildare.”
When the public began to lose interest in miniseries, Chamberlain turned to the theater, where he displayed a fine singing voice. He appeared as Henry Higgins in a 1994 Broadway revival of "My Fair Lady" and as Captain von Trapp in a 1999 revival of "The Sound of Music."
He reprised his role of de Bricassart in the 1996 TV movie "The Thorn Birds: The Missing Years."
He also appeared in numerous films, including "The Music Lovers" (as Tchaikovsky), "The Madwoman of Chaillot," "The Towering Inferno" and "The Three Musketeers" and its sequels.
The "Kildare" series was based on a string of successful 1930s and '40s films that had starred Lew Ayres in the title role.
Chamberlain's hunky, all-American appearance made him an overnight star. Another medical show that debuted the same season, "Ben Casey," also was a smash and made its leading man, the darkly handsome Vince Edwards, a star, too.
The "Ben Casey shirt" became a fashion item, both shows' theme songs made the pop Top 40 (the Kildare song performed by Chamberlain himself) and there was even a pop song called "Dr. Kildare! Dr. Casey! You Are Wanted for Consultation."
But in his book, Chamberlain recounted how he was forced to hide his sexuality. He would escort glamorous actresses to movie premieres and other public events at the request of studio executives and dodge reporters' questions about why he had never married with a stock reply: "Getting married would be great, but I'm awfully busy now."
"When I grew up, being gay, being a sissy or anything like that was verboten," he said in an NBC interview. "I disliked myself intensely and feared this part of myself intensely and had to hide it."
The book also described a troubled childhood and an alcoholic father, and Chamberlain said that writing it finally lifted a heavy emotional burden. He also expressed relief that he was no longer hiding his sexuality.
"I played a cat-and-mouse game with the press. Game over," said Chamberlain.
Born George Richard Chamberlain in Beverly Hills on March 31, 1934, the actor originally studied at Pomona College to be a painter. But after returning from the Army, where he had served as an infantry clerk in the Korean War, Chamberlain decided to try acting.
He studied voice and drama, and after appearing in guest roles in a handful of TV shows and in the 1960 film "The Secret of the Purple Reef," he won the Dr. Kildare role.
When “Dr. Kildare” was canceled he initially found it difficult to shake the image of the handsome young physician.
He moved to England for a time to find work and hone his acting skills. While there, he appeared in three of director Richard Lester’s films, “Petulia” (1968), “The Three Musketeers” (1973) and “The Four Musketeers” (1974). He reunited with Lester in 1989 for “The Return of the Musketeers,” once more playing Aramis.
In 1969, Chamberlain played the title role in “Hamlet” at England’s Birmingham Repertory Company and repeated it in a TV adaptation that appeared on NBC in the United States. He also appeared as Octavius in a film version of “Julius Caesar,” which co-starred Charlton Heston and Jason Robards.
He continued to act well into the 21st century, appearing on such television shows as “Will & Grace,” “The Drew Carey Show” and “Touched by an Angel.”
Bob Thomas, a longtime Associated Press journalist who died in 2014, was the principal writer of this obituary.
FILE - Actor Richard Chamberlain waves during a news conference in Berlin, Oct. 10, 1995. (AP Photo/ Jan Bauer, file)
FILE - This June 27, 2012, photo shows actor Richard Chamberlain in Los Angeles. (Photo by Matt Sayles/Invision/AP, file)
