Former NCFE President & Associate Arrested

J. Mark Batts, Acting Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Cincinnati Division and Gregory G. Lockhart, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, announced the arrests of Lance K. Poulsen, Port Charlotte, Florida and Karl A. Demmler, Columbus on federal conspiracy, obstruction of justice and witness tampering charges. Both were arrested today by FBI agents without incident. Poulsen was arrested at Tampa; Demmler was arrested at Columbus. Poulsen is the former president and chief executive officer of National Century Financial Enterprises (NCFE). Poulsen and Demmler have been charged in a federal complaint with violations of Title 18, U.S. Code Section 1512, Witness Tampering, Title 18, U.S. Code Section 371, Conspiracy to Obstruct Justice, and Title 18, U.S. Code Section 1503, Obstruction of Justice. Violations of Title 18, U.S. Code Section 1512 and Section 1503 are punishable by imprisonment of up to ten years. Violations of Title 18, U.S. Code Section 371 are punishable by imprisonment of up to five years. The affidavit in support of the complaint alleges that Poulsen used Demmler to frequently contact a witness for the government since June, 2007 and offer her cash in exchange for her not giving damaging testimony against Poulsen in his fraud trial, currently scheduled for February 8, 2008. A federal grand jury returned a superseding indictment against Poulsen and seven other NCFE executives on July 10, 2007 charging Poulsen and the others with conspiring to defraud investors by diverting more than $2 billion dollars in investors funds, fabricating data in investor reports, and moving money back and forth between accounts in order to conceal investor fund shortfalls. NCFE, based in Dublin, Ohio, was one of the largest healthcare finance companies in the United States until it filed for bankruptcy in November, 2002. If convicted of those charges, Poulsen faces a potential term of incarceration of 360 months to life, according to the United States Sentencing Guidelines. The public is reminded that criminal complaints are mere allegations of criminal conduct and that subjects are presumed to be innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.