A federal judge has rejected Charlie Jarvis’ attempt to overturn his conviction linked to defrauding JPMorgan Chase & Co. into buying the education startup Frank for $175 million. Jarvis argued there was a conflict of interest because two law clerks accepted positions at the law firm representing the bank.
U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein, based in Manhattan, asserted that the prior and upcoming employment of the clerks at Davis Polk & Wardwell—including summer positions before their clerkships—didn’t create any appearance of bias for Jarvis or his co-defendant, Olivier Hamard, the former chief growth officer of Frank.
At 92, Hellerstein noted that there was no evidence suggesting he relied too much on the clerk during the proceedings. He referenced the defendant’s claims that the clerk was “participating in real time” in key decisions regarding testimony, arguing that a reasonable person managing the case wouldn’t doubt his impartiality.
“The evidence in this case is strong and there is no concern that an innocent person could be convicted,” he remarked.
Representatives for Jarvis and Hamard didn’t respond to requests for comments after business hours.
Davis Polk, which consists of over 1,000 attorneys, was not involved as a defendant in the criminal case against Jarvis and Hamard.
Jarvis, who is now 34, founded Frank in 2017 and garnered attention for making the college financial aid process simpler for students and their families.
Prosecutors contended that Frank misled JPMorgan by overstating the number of clients it had. JPMorgan’s CEO, Jamie Dimon, labeled the 2021 acquisition as a “big mistake.”
Hellerstein handed down an 85-month prison sentence for Jarvis and a 68-month sentence for Hamard after both were found guilty in March of last year on multiple fraud charges. Jarvis has since appealed the conviction.
According to Hellerstein, Hamard is expected to report to prison on May 5.
