Charles Keating

PHOENIX — Charles H. Keating Jr., the notorious financier who served prison time and was disgraced for his role in the costliest savings and loan failure of the 1980s, has died. He was 90.

When Keating’s Phoenix-based home construction company, American Continental, bought Lincoln Savings & Loan in 1984, he elevated its worth from $1.1 billion to $5.5 billion in a four-year period.

But his empire crumbled with state and federal convictions for defrauding investors. Keating allegedly bilked Lincoln customers by selling them $200 million of unsecured “junk” bonds.