KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A federal appeals court ruling has upheld the convictions of five top leaders in a Kansas City-based company that bilked mostly poor investors out of millions of dollars with promises of vast wealth in exchange for investments of as little as $100.

A three-judge 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Wednesday found no reason to overturn the May 2013 convictions.

Isreal Owen Hawkins, Teresa Brown, Johnny Heurung, William Miller and Martin Roper were all involved in a company founded by Hawkins, Petro America Corp. Hawkins asserted the purported oil and mining operation was worth $284 billion but the government insisted the company had zero value.

The five were accused of selling $7.2 million worth of unregistered stock and targeting poor investors who weren’t qualified to purchase shares.