$2.84 billion of investor money disappearing, ...

Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Prosecutors try to paint Poulsen as liarBusiness First of Columbus - by Kevin Kemper
Given the chance to cross-examine the former CEO of National Century Financial Enterprises Inc., prosecutors wasted little time in attempting to portray him as a liar with a history of perjury.

Justice Department Attorney Leo Wise began his cross of Lance Poulsen Wednesday afternoon by reminding the 65-year-old former executive, and the jury who will decide Poulsen’s fate, of the oath Poulsen took to tell the truth. Wise and Poulsen then entered into a sometimes contentious back-and-forth over what Poulsen had testified to earlier.

Wise began by asking about testimony Poulsen gave on Tuesday in which he told the jury he had been living in Ross County Jail in Chillicothe for the last year because he had been convicted of obstruction. Wise asked Poulsen if he hadn’t also been convicted of witness tampering. Poulsen replied that he couldn’t remember the specific charges.

“It’s your testimony that (prison) has had a profound effect on your life and you don’t remember the charges?” Wise asked.

Poulsen answered that he remembered it was obstruction and related charges, but couldn’t remember what those related charges were.

Wise then asked Poulsen about a mid-November bond hearing in which U.S. District Judge Algenon Marbley revoked Poulsen’s bond. Poulsen, the founder of National Century, was originally scheduled to stand trial on fraud and money laundering charges late last year. That trial was postponed, however, when the government detained Poulsen on charges that he attempted to bribe a government witness. A separate jury found Poulsen guilty of the charge in March and he was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.

When Marbley was considering revoking Poulsen’s bond in November because of the witness tampering charges, Poulsen told the court he was employed by a firm called MTL Enterprises. Wise asked Poulsen if it was true that the government discovered a day after the bond hearing that Poulsen hadn’t worked at MTL for over a month. Poulsen said that was correct.

Wise also asked about testimony Poulsen gave on Wednesday in which he said he was not aware of anyone altering books at the company. After Poulsen said he remembered giving that testimony, Wise asked Poulsen if it was his “OK” that was written next to notations on company investor reports that said arbitrary numbers had been plugged in to make the reports compliant.

“It could be my ‘OK,’ I don’t know,” Poulsen said. “The location (on the document) is typically where I put an ‘OK.’ ”

Poulsen, standing trial in U.S. District Court in Columbus on charges that he orchestrated a fraud at National Century that resulted in $2.84 billion of investor money disappearing, will take the stand again Thursday morning. After that, attorneys are expected to make their closing statements to the jury.