Finance Executive Ordered to Prison

A federal judge today ordered a finance executive convicted of fraud to spend 15 years in prison. And, no, he had nothing to do with subprime mortgages.

Donald H. Ayers, 72, was a founder, vice chairman, and chief operating officer of National Century Financial Enterprises, which bought accounts receivable from health-care providers.

He was also an architect of the fraud that brought down the company in 2002, costing investors nearly $2 billion and leading to the collapse of more than 275 health-care provider clients, prosecutors say.

A jury convicted Ayers and five other National Century executives in March. Ayers was charged with six counts of securities fraud, as well as several counts of conspiracy. He is the first to be sentenced.

District Judge Algenon L. Marbley in Columbus, Ohio, is scheduled to sentence another National Century executive, former chief financial officer Randolph H. Speer, this afternoon.

Marbley will sentence Roger S. Faulkenberry, whom authorities describe as a senior executive responsible for raising money from investors, and James E. Dierker Jr., associate director of marketing and vice president of client development, on Thursday.

Former C.E.O. Lance K. Poulsen and his friend Karl A. Demmler are scheduled to be sentenced on Friday. They were convicted of obstructing justice for having tried to persuade a government witness to fake amnesia.

The sentencing was first reported on the website of the Columbus Dispatch.

by Mark Stein