NEW YORK, Feb 20 (Reuters) - The criminal trial of

Charlie Javice for allegedly defrauding JPMorgan Chase ( JPM )

into buying her college financial aid startup Frank began on

Thursday, with her lawyer arguing there was no fraud and the

banking giant merely had "buyer's remorse."

Javice, 32, has pleaded not guilty to securities fraud,

wire fraud, bank fraud and conspiracy over JPMorgan's ( JPM ) $175

million purchase of Frank in July 2021.

Prosecutors accused Javice of lying by assuring the largest

U.S. bank that Frank had 4.25 million customers when it had only

about 300,000.

JPMorgan ( JPM ) allegedly discovered the inflated number when it

tried to contact customers it believed were real to sell

products, and received far fewer responses than expected.

Jose Baez, a lawyer for Javice, told jurors during his

opening argument in Manhattan federal court that JPMorgan ( JPM )

undertook extensive due diligence into Frank, and knew how many

clients it had before completing the purchase.

He said JPMorgan ( JPM ) claimed it was hoodwinked only a year later

when financial aid regulations changed, and fraud was the only

condition that allowed it to back out from the sale contract.

Earlier, prosecutor Rushmi Bhaskaran said in her opening

argument that Javice collected fake names and addresses from a

college friend because JPMorgan ( JPM ) required the data.

Bhaskaran also said Javice's co-defendant Olivier Amar, who

was Frank's chief growth officer, bought "sham lists" of student

data from third parties for Frank to falsely pass off as

customers.

"It was through their lies that they became

multimillionaires," Bhaskaran said.

Jonathan Cogan, a lawyer for Amar, told jurors his client

was "out of the loop" during negotiations with JPMorgan ( JPM ).

Javice, a Florida resident, studied at the University of

Pennsylvania's Wharton School, and appeared on Forbes magazine's

"30 Under 30" list in 2019.

The trial is before U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein,

who seated jurors and alternates earlier on Thursday.

JPMorgan ( JPM ) CEO Jamie Dimon has called the Frank acquisition a

"huge mistake."

The bank declined on Thursday to comment on the trial.

Founded in 2017, Frank was marketed as a tool to help

simplify college financial aid for students and parents.

Javice had discussed a transaction with another bank,

Capital One, before turning to JPMorgan ( JPM ), Amar's lawyer

said.