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Ex-Taylor Bean chairman's conviction upheld


    (Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Wednesday upheld the April 2011 conviction of Lee Farkas, the former chairman of Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp, who was convicted of masterminding a $2.9 billion fraud at the private mortgage company.

    Farkas was sentenced last June to 30 years in prison after a jury found him guilty on 14 counts. The collapse of Taylor Bean also resulted in the implosion of Colonial BancGroup Inc, one of the largest southeastern U.S. banks.

    The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Farkas' claim that the jury instructions violated his Fifth Amendment rights. It also upheld a $38.5 million forfeiture order against Farkas.

    (Reporting By Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Leslie Gevirtz)