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$1.3B award upheld against racecar driver over payday loans

SAN FRANCISCO -- A U.S. appeals court has upheld a nearly $1.3 billion award against a pro racecar driver convicted of deceiving consumers with his payday loan business.

A unanimous three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday that information Scott Tucker's companies provided consumers did not accurately disclose the loans' terms.

The appeals panel also said a lower court did not abuse its authority when it ordered Tucker and other defendants to pay back nearly $1.3 billion in a case brought forward by the Federal Trade Commission.

An attorney for Tucker, Paul C. Ray, said he was reviewing the decision.

Tucker is from Leawood, Kansas and was sentenced in January in a related criminal case to more than 16 years in prison on fraud and other charges.