A federal appeals court upheld the conviction of an Orlando businessman accused of receiving more than $2 million in federal grant money for a biodiesel facility and fraudulently using it for other purposes.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit rejected arguments by Lee John Maher, who was convicted in 2017 on charges of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud and receiving, concealing and retaining federal funds. The federal grant money was funneled through a state energy program.

A state grant manager in late 2010 issued a $2.2 million check to Maher's firm, Clean Fuel LLC, for what was believed to be a generator for the facility, the ruling said. Maher submitted a fraudulent progress report to the state Office of Energy in January 2012 and asked for an extension of the project in March 2012, but the grant agreement was terminated in July 2012.