Lee Farkas, once a manager of the company that owned Atlanta gay bar Blake's on the Park, was found guilty Tuesday of being the "mastermind" in a $2.9 billion fraud trial that officials said was "one of the largest bank frauds in history."
The Justice Department's criminal division chief, Lanny Breuer, said Farkas, 58, was "one of the masterminds in one of the largest bank frauds in history" and that his misconduct "poured fuel on the fire of the financial crisis," according to a report by the Associated Press.
In June, Farkas, who is gay, was indicted on one count of conspiracy, six counts of bank fraud, six counts of wire fraud and three counts of securities fraud. Farkas was found guilty of 14 of these counts.