"....the U.S. recovered $7 million." ??????
Florida Radiologist to Pay U.S. $7 Million to Resolve Fraud Claims
April 14, 2008
A board-certified radiologist, Fred Steinberg, M.D., his imaging centers and related entities in Palm Beach County, Fla., have reached a settlement with the United States to resolve allegations of health care fraud, the Justice Department announced today. Under the terms of the settlement, the U.S. recovered $7 million.
The settlement resolves allegations that portions of CT scans were not performed, even though the procedures were billed and reported to patients’ physicians as if they were done. CT scans, which take detailed pictures of structures inside the body, are often taken using a dye (or contrast material) to highlight certain conditions. In addition to performing CT scans with contrast, scans may also be done without contrast. The bills submitted by Steinberg and his entities to federal healthcare programs, including Medicare, reflected that thousands of CT scans were carried out both with and without contrast, when in reality the CT scans without contrast were not performed. In addition, the government alleged that the Steinberg entities did CT scans and ultrasound exams that were not ordered by physicians and were not medically necessary.
The settlement also resolves allegations that financial inducements were paid to physicians for patient referrals, which are prohibited under the Stark law and the Anti-Kickback statute. These inducements took the form of medical directorship, clinical research, employment, facility use and equipment lease agreements that exceeded fair market value or otherwise failed to comply with federal law.
“This settlement confirms our vigorous pursuit of allegations of fraud and abuse in federal healthcare programs, against both companies and individuals,” said Jeffrey S. Bucholtz, acting Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice’s Civil Division. “All participants in these programs must abide by the government’s requirements for the provision of care and proper billing, and this settlement reflects the importance the Department places on compliance with the law, including those laws governing prohibited financial relationships.”
The United States initiated the investigation in response to a whistleblower action under the False Claims Act brought by David Clayman, M.D., a former employee of one of the Steinberg group practices. Under the False Claims Act, private individuals can bring actions for fraud on behalf of the United States and collect a share of any proceeds recovered by the suit. As a result of today’s settlement, the whistleblower will receive $1.75 million as his share of the recovery.
“Billing Medicare for tests that are either not medically necessary or not performed is an abuse of the Medicare program that squanders scarce dollars,” said R. Alexander Acosta, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida. “We will aggressively prosecute any physicians, including board-certified specialists, who abuse and steal from the Medicare system to line their own pockets.”
The case was handled jointly by the Justice Department’s Civil Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, with investigative assistance provided by the Office of the Inspector General, Department of Health and Human Services; the Office of Personnel and Management; and the U.S. Postal Service.
The case is entitled U.S. ex rel. David Clayman v. University MRI and Fred Steinberg, M.D. et al. Civil Action No. 02-81143 (S.D. Fla.).
Source: DOJ
Net News Publisher
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Federal prosecutors unveiled a new 18-count grand jury indictment that adds charges of money laundering and increases the counts of health care fraud
Anderson Guest Home owner facing money laundering, fraud charges
By Marcus Kabel • Associated Press Writer • April 15, 2008
Springfield, Mo. — The owner of a Missouri group home where 11 people died in a 2006 fire faces a raft of new federal charges along with his wife and daughter.
Federal prosecutors unveiled a new 18-count grand jury indictment that adds charges of money laundering and increases the counts of health care fraud against Robert DuPont, 63, of Joplin.
DuPont allegedly ran five southwest Missouri group homes for the mentally ill despite having a 2002 felony conviction for Medicaid fraud that barred him from operating a business that bills Medicaid.
He pleaded not guilty last year to one count of health care fraud in the original indictment. The new indictment, which includes charges of health care fraud, conspiracy and money laundering, replaces the previous one.
DuPont’s Springfield attorney, Stuart Huffman, said Tuesday that his client also plans to plead not guilty to the new charges.
The new indictment for the first time also charges DuPont’s wife, LaVerne, 72, and daughter Kelley Wheeler, 45, as well as Joplin River of Life Ministries, a nonprofit created by the DuPonts to run the homes they owned.
Those facilities included the Anderson Guest House, where a blaze in November 2006 killed 11 people in the deadliest group home fire in Missouri since 25 people were killed at a care home in Farmington in 1979.
According to the National Fire Protection Association, the nation’s deadliest fire in a facility for older adults since 1950 was at the Katie Jane Nursing Home in Warrenton, where 72 people were killed.
The new indictment, filed April 2 and unsealed Monday, alleges that Robert DuPont formed the nonprofit ministry and installed LaVerne as the nominal head to hide the fact that he was still effectively in charge, even while he was in prison from March 2003 through August 2004.
There was no answer Tuesday at a Joplin home number listed for the DuPonts. Wheeler’s attorney did not immediately return a call for comment.
Court records showed Wheeler was free on bond and had not entered a plea ahead of an arraignment set for May 16.
Robert DuPont remains free on bond. The new charges mean DuPont’s trial on the original count will not go ahead as scheduled Monday, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney said.
The new indictment alleges that the ministry illegally collected more than $725,000 from Medicaid between September 2003 and November 2006.
It also alleges that DuPont wrote two letters while he was in prison that show he was making decisions and issuing orders to others on how to run the guest houses.
The 18 counts each carry maximum prison terms between five and 20 years, according to the indictment. LaVerne DuPont faces two counts of health care fraud and conspiracy, while Wheeler faces two counts of health care fraud and money laundering. DuPont faces those counts, plus more charges of money laundering and conspiracy.
DuPont also faces a state lawsuit and multiple wrongful death lawsuits that allege he was negligent, but the federal indictment is the only criminal case.
State fire investigators ruled out arson in the Anderson blaze but said the cause would remain undetermined because the building was totally gutted. They said faulty electrical wiring in the attic of the one-story home was the most likely cause.
DuPont has repeatedly denied any negligence and has disputed that attic wiring caused the fire.
By Marcus Kabel • Associated Press Writer • April 15, 2008
Springfield, Mo. — The owner of a Missouri group home where 11 people died in a 2006 fire faces a raft of new federal charges along with his wife and daughter.
Federal prosecutors unveiled a new 18-count grand jury indictment that adds charges of money laundering and increases the counts of health care fraud against Robert DuPont, 63, of Joplin.
DuPont allegedly ran five southwest Missouri group homes for the mentally ill despite having a 2002 felony conviction for Medicaid fraud that barred him from operating a business that bills Medicaid.
He pleaded not guilty last year to one count of health care fraud in the original indictment. The new indictment, which includes charges of health care fraud, conspiracy and money laundering, replaces the previous one.
DuPont’s Springfield attorney, Stuart Huffman, said Tuesday that his client also plans to plead not guilty to the new charges.
The new indictment for the first time also charges DuPont’s wife, LaVerne, 72, and daughter Kelley Wheeler, 45, as well as Joplin River of Life Ministries, a nonprofit created by the DuPonts to run the homes they owned.
Those facilities included the Anderson Guest House, where a blaze in November 2006 killed 11 people in the deadliest group home fire in Missouri since 25 people were killed at a care home in Farmington in 1979.
According to the National Fire Protection Association, the nation’s deadliest fire in a facility for older adults since 1950 was at the Katie Jane Nursing Home in Warrenton, where 72 people were killed.
The new indictment, filed April 2 and unsealed Monday, alleges that Robert DuPont formed the nonprofit ministry and installed LaVerne as the nominal head to hide the fact that he was still effectively in charge, even while he was in prison from March 2003 through August 2004.
There was no answer Tuesday at a Joplin home number listed for the DuPonts. Wheeler’s attorney did not immediately return a call for comment.
Court records showed Wheeler was free on bond and had not entered a plea ahead of an arraignment set for May 16.
Robert DuPont remains free on bond. The new charges mean DuPont’s trial on the original count will not go ahead as scheduled Monday, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney said.
The new indictment alleges that the ministry illegally collected more than $725,000 from Medicaid between September 2003 and November 2006.
It also alleges that DuPont wrote two letters while he was in prison that show he was making decisions and issuing orders to others on how to run the guest houses.
The 18 counts each carry maximum prison terms between five and 20 years, according to the indictment. LaVerne DuPont faces two counts of health care fraud and conspiracy, while Wheeler faces two counts of health care fraud and money laundering. DuPont faces those counts, plus more charges of money laundering and conspiracy.
DuPont also faces a state lawsuit and multiple wrongful death lawsuits that allege he was negligent, but the federal indictment is the only criminal case.
State fire investigators ruled out arson in the Anderson blaze but said the cause would remain undetermined because the building was totally gutted. They said faulty electrical wiring in the attic of the one-story home was the most likely cause.
DuPont has repeatedly denied any negligence and has disputed that attic wiring caused the fire.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
60 miles northwest of Pittsburgh....fraud is everywhere
Clearwater chiropractor sentenced to three years in fraud case
The Associated Press
2:38 pm, April 12, 2008
PITTSBURGH - A former Mercer County chiropractor will spend three years in prison for defrauding an insurance company.
Thirty-eight-year-old Brent J. Detelich, of Clearwater, Fla., was sentenced Friday in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh. A jury convicted him of health care and mail fraud in March 2007.
Prosecutors say Detelich submitted fraudulent claims to Highmark Blue Cross/Blue Shield for services not rendered. He then split the payments from those claims with some patients.
Detelich did business as Detelich Chiropractic, and Advanced Medical and Holistic of Hermitage, about 60 miles northwest of Pittsburgh.
He must also pay $91,025 in restitution to Highmark. And he'll be on supervised release for two years after his release from prison.
standouts
In the fall, if Chris Rainey produces a big play in the clutch, or Carlos Dunlap makes a game-changing sack, or Caleb
Moody blues
As he dove for the end zone, Southern Cal transfer running back Emmanuel Moody was one yard away from making a big first
Spring stage produces gridiron standouts
More from Gainesville.com
The Associated Press
2:38 pm, April 12, 2008
PITTSBURGH - A former Mercer County chiropractor will spend three years in prison for defrauding an insurance company.
Thirty-eight-year-old Brent J. Detelich, of Clearwater, Fla., was sentenced Friday in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh. A jury convicted him of health care and mail fraud in March 2007.
Prosecutors say Detelich submitted fraudulent claims to Highmark Blue Cross/Blue Shield for services not rendered. He then split the payments from those claims with some patients.
Detelich did business as Detelich Chiropractic, and Advanced Medical and Holistic of Hermitage, about 60 miles northwest of Pittsburgh.
He must also pay $91,025 in restitution to Highmark. And he'll be on supervised release for two years after his release from prison.
standouts
In the fall, if Chris Rainey produces a big play in the clutch, or Carlos Dunlap makes a game-changing sack, or Caleb
Moody blues
As he dove for the end zone, Southern Cal transfer running back Emmanuel Moody was one yard away from making a big first
Spring stage produces gridiron standouts
More from Gainesville.com
Columbia/HCA To Pay $ 745 Million in Fraud
Published in: San Francisco Chronicle, Friday, May 19, 2000, page B1:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Columbia/HCA To Pay $ 745 Million in Fraud Settlement".
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp. said it will pay about $ 745 million in a partial settlement of a 3-year old Medicare fraud investigation.
The Nashville, Tenn. company will take a second-quarter charge of $ 498 million for costs of the settlement , an amount equal to three-quarters of its net income last year. Columbia/HCA has been negotiating for more than a year to extricate itself from the investigation after selling its home health care unit, shedding a third of its hospitals and replacing top managers.
The government accused Columbia/HCA, the largest U.S. hospital chain, of a nationwide effort to defraud Medicare and other health insurance programs.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Columbia/HCA To Pay $ 745 Million in Fraud Settlement".
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp. said it will pay about $ 745 million in a partial settlement of a 3-year old Medicare fraud investigation.
The Nashville, Tenn. company will take a second-quarter charge of $ 498 million for costs of the settlement , an amount equal to three-quarters of its net income last year. Columbia/HCA has been negotiating for more than a year to extricate itself from the investigation after selling its home health care unit, shedding a third of its hospitals and replacing top managers.
The government accused Columbia/HCA, the largest U.S. hospital chain, of a nationwide effort to defraud Medicare and other health insurance programs.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Health Care Fraud kickback scheme.
About time this 'puppet' does something useful. But I really want to know weher is the money? Is he smart enought to get that?
U.S. Department of Justice
U.S. Attorney’s Office
Western District of Texas
Johnny Sutton, U.S. Attorney
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
April 9, 2008
Shana Jones, Special Assistant
Daryl Fields, Public Information Officer
(210) 384-7440 May 18, 2007
SAN ANTONIO BUSINESS OWNER SENTENCED TO FEDERAL PRISON
AND ORDERED TO PAY OVER $4 MILLION RESTITUTION
United States Attorney Johnny Sutton announced that in San Antonio this afternoon, Mary Lou Hernandez, owner of Angel Care Medical Supply, was sentenced to 24 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $4,409,518 in restitution for her role in a Health Care Fraud kickback scheme.
In addition to the prison term, United States District Judge W. Royal Furgeson ordered that Hernandez be placed under supervised release for a period of three years after completing her prison term. Today, Hernandez forfeited nearly $428,000 in assets toward satisfying the agreed $4 million monetary judgement ordered by the Court on April 12, 2007.
On November 16, 2006, Hernandez pleaded guilty to a 3-count Information charging her with conspiracy to commit Health Care Fraud, Health Care Fraud and violation of the Anti-kickback statute.
A Certificate of Medical Necessity (CMN) documents a beneficiary’s physician’s conclusion that durable medical equipment (DME) such as wheel chairs, hospital beds, ventilators and oxygen equipment is medically necessary and reasonable for the treatment of an illness or injury. Hernandez admitted that beginning in 2000, she paid between $800 and $1,000 in kickbacks to five San Antonio area physicians for each CMN. Hernandez also admitted to submitting false Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement claims for DME. The factual basis alleges that from January 13, 2001, to September 30, 2004, ACMS was overpaid $3,032,404.94 by Medicare and $1,377,114 by Medicaid.
The defendant’s fraudulent scheme was revealed during an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Tom McHugh prosecuted this case on behalf of the Government.
U.S. Department of Justice
U.S. Attorney’s Office
Western District of Texas
Johnny Sutton, U.S. Attorney
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
April 9, 2008
Shana Jones, Special Assistant
Daryl Fields, Public Information Officer
(210) 384-7440 May 18, 2007
SAN ANTONIO BUSINESS OWNER SENTENCED TO FEDERAL PRISON
AND ORDERED TO PAY OVER $4 MILLION RESTITUTION
United States Attorney Johnny Sutton announced that in San Antonio this afternoon, Mary Lou Hernandez, owner of Angel Care Medical Supply, was sentenced to 24 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $4,409,518 in restitution for her role in a Health Care Fraud kickback scheme.
In addition to the prison term, United States District Judge W. Royal Furgeson ordered that Hernandez be placed under supervised release for a period of three years after completing her prison term. Today, Hernandez forfeited nearly $428,000 in assets toward satisfying the agreed $4 million monetary judgement ordered by the Court on April 12, 2007.
On November 16, 2006, Hernandez pleaded guilty to a 3-count Information charging her with conspiracy to commit Health Care Fraud, Health Care Fraud and violation of the Anti-kickback statute.
A Certificate of Medical Necessity (CMN) documents a beneficiary’s physician’s conclusion that durable medical equipment (DME) such as wheel chairs, hospital beds, ventilators and oxygen equipment is medically necessary and reasonable for the treatment of an illness or injury. Hernandez admitted that beginning in 2000, she paid between $800 and $1,000 in kickbacks to five San Antonio area physicians for each CMN. Hernandez also admitted to submitting false Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement claims for DME. The factual basis alleges that from January 13, 2001, to September 30, 2004, ACMS was overpaid $3,032,404.94 by Medicare and $1,377,114 by Medicaid.
The defendant’s fraudulent scheme was revealed during an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Tom McHugh prosecuted this case on behalf of the Government.
Monday, March 24, 2008
275 healthcare providers that SUPPOSEDLY went bankrupt
One might think that the embarrassing if not ignoble collapse of what was once described as “the country’s largest provider of healthcare accounts-receivable financing” would only be of interest to some affected healthcare providers, accounting nerds and burned Wall Street investors. But the criminal trial of five former executives of National Century Financial Enterprises is actually front-page news in Columbus, Ohio, where the trial got under way last week in a U.S. District courtroom.
In fact, based on a story that ran on the front page of the Columbus Dispatch the Sunday before the trial, defense attorneys motioned last week to conduct individualized and comprehensive voir dire of the dozens if not hundreds of prospective jurors. Without one-on-one questioning to determine otherwise, the attorneys said they were concerned that the prominent media coverage might have contaminated the pool.
For those of you who did not work for one of the 275 healthcare providers that supposedly went bankrupt after NCFE’s collapse, or are not accountants, burned investors or Columbus-area residents, here’s the back story: NCFE purchased medical accounts receivable from providers typically in dire financial straits, raising capital by selling AAA-rated asset-backed bonds or notes to investors. Prosecutors are alleging that it was all a sham that eventually led to the November 2002 collapse of NCFE days after FBI agents raided its Dublin, Ohio, headquarters. They claim that the fraud cost investors more than $1.9 billion.
Fortunately for the court calendar, Judge Algenon Marbley, a folksy man both pragmatic and aware of the legal rules, found a way around the voir dire motion that was amenable to both sides. Even with that, jury selection took three full days, putting the trial, which is expected to last four to six weeks, behind by a full day before it even got started.
The irony here is that jury selection traditionally gives lawyers an opportunity to taint the jury pool by their line of questioning, and this was very much apparent on the third day of questioning. The pool had already been whittled down to a mere courtroom-size group with prospective jurors sitting in every available seat, including the jury box. Marbley started things off that day by asking if a six-week trial would be a hardship for anyone. Several people raised their hands, including a waitress who said she would not get any pay and a young man who informed the judge that he worked for his family’s plumbing business.
“I was informed yesterday by my father that he would not pay me,” the young man said, lightening the mood in the courtroom.
Defense attorneys’ questions to the prospective jurors grew progressively rhetorical in nature after the jurors were first screened on direct questions like whether they had been victims of bankruptcy or whether they had ever been involved in any whistle-blower complaints. (One prospective juror had been employed by WorldCom and another by the now defunct Dublin Securities.)
Questions then seemed to get broader and more tangential as the pool was quizzed on their knowledge of financial concepts; auditors, specifically Deloitte & Touche; credit-rating agencies; trustees; and whether anyone had ever bothered to read their credit-card agreements. They also were asked how they felt about executive compensation—is $500,000 a year too much?—and whether they knew what a “144A offering” was. The pool was casually surveyed as to how many of them held job titles that had anything to do with what they actually did for a living and whether anyone had ever heard of the term “healthcare securitizations.” (No one had, or at least no one admitted they had.) During the course of this line of questioning, one woman in the back of the courtroom revealed that she is a personal friend of the chief executive officer of Deloitte and her husband had been at one time chief financial officer of Ford and Battelle. She was not selected.
Another prospective juror who was not selected was a man who works for Cardinal Health, also headquartered in Dublin, who said he reported directly to a vice president. On the other hand, one of the few people who raised their hands when asked if they actually wanted to serve on this jury was selected. When asked why he wanted to serve, he replied, “I think it’s a duty, and if anyone didn’t know anything (about this case) when they came in, I was him.”
No one connected with the trial has any inflated hopes of swift justice. Each of the five defendants had at least two defense lawyers sitting with him, and there were four lawyers sitting at the U.S. attorney’s table so that whenever there was a request for a sidebar—and there were many—there was a sea of dark suits huddling to the side of the courtroom while Musak played over the courtroom speakers. Yet for all of the dissension in the reams of motions and trial briefs that are accumulating with the case, the prosecutors and defense attorneys actually seemed to get along very well.
But missing from the defense side of the courtroom is perhaps the most contentious principal involved with NCFE: Lance Poulsen, one of NCFE’s founders and its former president, chairman and chief executive officer. Poulsen’s case was severed from the trial earlier this year; he will be tried in August. In the meantime, considered a flight risk, he is sitting in jail outside Columbus, facing separate charges of witness tampering at a trial expected to take place this spring.
Poulsen has fallen far. NCFE and Poulsen were once held in high enough regard in the Columbus area that the Dispatch profiled him in its business section in May 2000. Poulsen noted in the profile that marketing had been his primary focus over the previous 32 years of his career. His first professional position was with Hamm’s Brewery in St. Paul, Minn., according to the profile. He also said that as a result of his first job as a teenager working as a box wrapper and part-time salesman at the Robert Hall clothing store, he had learned, “Selling and marketing is more lucrative than packaging.”
As for his biggest mistake (up until that point in time), he recalled a boating accident that, in hindsight, might have been prophetic. He said: “Once while cruising in the coastal waters of Florida, I inadvertently turned the chart upside down and ran my vessel hard aground at a high speed.” How did he resolve the mistake? “I now make sure I always have the chart right-side up. Much like life, some things appear different than they actually are, and we must take time to examine the facts.”
In fact, based on a story that ran on the front page of the Columbus Dispatch the Sunday before the trial, defense attorneys motioned last week to conduct individualized and comprehensive voir dire of the dozens if not hundreds of prospective jurors. Without one-on-one questioning to determine otherwise, the attorneys said they were concerned that the prominent media coverage might have contaminated the pool.
For those of you who did not work for one of the 275 healthcare providers that supposedly went bankrupt after NCFE’s collapse, or are not accountants, burned investors or Columbus-area residents, here’s the back story: NCFE purchased medical accounts receivable from providers typically in dire financial straits, raising capital by selling AAA-rated asset-backed bonds or notes to investors. Prosecutors are alleging that it was all a sham that eventually led to the November 2002 collapse of NCFE days after FBI agents raided its Dublin, Ohio, headquarters. They claim that the fraud cost investors more than $1.9 billion.
Fortunately for the court calendar, Judge Algenon Marbley, a folksy man both pragmatic and aware of the legal rules, found a way around the voir dire motion that was amenable to both sides. Even with that, jury selection took three full days, putting the trial, which is expected to last four to six weeks, behind by a full day before it even got started.
The irony here is that jury selection traditionally gives lawyers an opportunity to taint the jury pool by their line of questioning, and this was very much apparent on the third day of questioning. The pool had already been whittled down to a mere courtroom-size group with prospective jurors sitting in every available seat, including the jury box. Marbley started things off that day by asking if a six-week trial would be a hardship for anyone. Several people raised their hands, including a waitress who said she would not get any pay and a young man who informed the judge that he worked for his family’s plumbing business.
“I was informed yesterday by my father that he would not pay me,” the young man said, lightening the mood in the courtroom.
Defense attorneys’ questions to the prospective jurors grew progressively rhetorical in nature after the jurors were first screened on direct questions like whether they had been victims of bankruptcy or whether they had ever been involved in any whistle-blower complaints. (One prospective juror had been employed by WorldCom and another by the now defunct Dublin Securities.)
Questions then seemed to get broader and more tangential as the pool was quizzed on their knowledge of financial concepts; auditors, specifically Deloitte & Touche; credit-rating agencies; trustees; and whether anyone had ever bothered to read their credit-card agreements. They also were asked how they felt about executive compensation—is $500,000 a year too much?—and whether they knew what a “144A offering” was. The pool was casually surveyed as to how many of them held job titles that had anything to do with what they actually did for a living and whether anyone had ever heard of the term “healthcare securitizations.” (No one had, or at least no one admitted they had.) During the course of this line of questioning, one woman in the back of the courtroom revealed that she is a personal friend of the chief executive officer of Deloitte and her husband had been at one time chief financial officer of Ford and Battelle. She was not selected.
Another prospective juror who was not selected was a man who works for Cardinal Health, also headquartered in Dublin, who said he reported directly to a vice president. On the other hand, one of the few people who raised their hands when asked if they actually wanted to serve on this jury was selected. When asked why he wanted to serve, he replied, “I think it’s a duty, and if anyone didn’t know anything (about this case) when they came in, I was him.”
No one connected with the trial has any inflated hopes of swift justice. Each of the five defendants had at least two defense lawyers sitting with him, and there were four lawyers sitting at the U.S. attorney’s table so that whenever there was a request for a sidebar—and there were many—there was a sea of dark suits huddling to the side of the courtroom while Musak played over the courtroom speakers. Yet for all of the dissension in the reams of motions and trial briefs that are accumulating with the case, the prosecutors and defense attorneys actually seemed to get along very well.
But missing from the defense side of the courtroom is perhaps the most contentious principal involved with NCFE: Lance Poulsen, one of NCFE’s founders and its former president, chairman and chief executive officer. Poulsen’s case was severed from the trial earlier this year; he will be tried in August. In the meantime, considered a flight risk, he is sitting in jail outside Columbus, facing separate charges of witness tampering at a trial expected to take place this spring.
Poulsen has fallen far. NCFE and Poulsen were once held in high enough regard in the Columbus area that the Dispatch profiled him in its business section in May 2000. Poulsen noted in the profile that marketing had been his primary focus over the previous 32 years of his career. His first professional position was with Hamm’s Brewery in St. Paul, Minn., according to the profile. He also said that as a result of his first job as a teenager working as a box wrapper and part-time salesman at the Robert Hall clothing store, he had learned, “Selling and marketing is more lucrative than packaging.”
As for his biggest mistake (up until that point in time), he recalled a boating accident that, in hindsight, might have been prophetic. He said: “Once while cruising in the coastal waters of Florida, I inadvertently turned the chart upside down and ran my vessel hard aground at a high speed.” How did he resolve the mistake? “I now make sure I always have the chart right-side up. Much like life, some things appear different than they actually are, and we must take time to examine the facts.”
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