"....overpaid some of its medical clients" . Should we believe the 'overpayments' were UNintentional?

National Century Financial Enterprises Inc. overfunded an operator of five hospitals around the country by approximately $500 million, a health-care executive testified Wednesday.

Donna Talbot, a former executive vice president of Doctors Community Health Care Corp., told the jury assembled for the trial of five National Century executives in Columbus that her company owed National Century approximately $500 million due to overfunding by the time National Century filed for bankruptcy in 2002.

Talbot became the third health-care executive from as many companies to testify that National Century had overpaid some of its medical clients.

Talbot also said National Century owned 11.5 percent of Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Doctors Community.

National Century was a Dublin-based financier of health care providers. The largest of its kind in the nation, National Century specialized in purchasing accounts receivable from health-care providers at a discount, giving the providers cash up front to pay bills. It packaged the receivables as asset-backed bonds and sold them to investors.

National Century filed for bankruptcy in November 2002 after FBI agents raided the company's offices and its bond ratings were cut to high-yield "junk" status because they had become risky for investors.

The government has accused the five executives on trial of engaging in conspiracy, money laundering and securities fraud in an effort to benefit their own to the tune of more than $2.84 billion.

All of them - Rebecca Parrett, Donald Ayers, Roger Faulkenberry, Randolph Speer and James Dierker - have pleaded not guilty.

Two other executives - CEO Lance Poulsen and James Happ - will stand trial later in the year.

Under cross-examination by defense attorneys, Talbot acknowledged National Century's financing kept her company's hospitals in business.

Brian Dickerson, attorney for Ayers, also questioned Talbot on equipment financing contracts between National Century and Doctors Community, which U.S. District Court Judge Algenon L. Marbley called into question.

"In a case as complex as this, it is easy to confuse, unwittingly, the trier of fact (jury)," Marbley said after the jury had been sent out of the courtroom. "This borders on the brink of surplusage."

After admonishing Dickerson to make his questions relevant, Marbley said, "I'm not going to let confusion creep into this trial."