A federal judge on Friday sentenced the founder of a failed health-care financing company to 30 years in prison for his role as "puppet master" in what prosecutors called the biggest fraud on record at a privately held company in the United States.*** National Century offered financing to small hospitals, nursing homes and other health-care providers by purchasing their accounts receivable, usually for 80 or 90 cents on the dollar, so they wouldn't have to wait for insurance payments. National Century then collected the full amount of the payments. The company raised the money to fund its business by selling bonds to investors. Prosecutors said National Century executives authorized millions in unsecured loans to health-care providers, then misled investors about the loans. As the money owed to the company mounted, National Century declared bankruptcy in November 2002 after the FBI raided its offices. Since then, at least nine former executives have been convicted of corporate fraud. The government originally alleged proceeds of the fraud topped $1.9 billion, a figure Squires said Friday had been reduced to $1.7 billion. He said investors' total losses were around $2.8 billion. At its height the company employed more than 300 people, most of them in the Columbus area. Executives made millions, with Poulsen alone earning more than $9.1 million between 1996 and 2002, according to the government.
via 30 years for company founder in $1.7 billion Ohio fraud - Business – cleveland.com.
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