Poulsen: Informant Is Lying About National Century Escape Plot

Jailed former National Century Financial Enterprises CEO Lance Poulsen said Monday that a confidential informant was lying when he told authorities that Poulsen told him that four convicted National Century executives had a plan to flee to Aruba if they were convicted. The four executives — Donald Ayers, Randolph Speer, Roger Faulkenberry and James Dierker — were arrested on April 2 (earlier) following disclosure of the alleged plan and the disappearance of the fifth executive, Rebecca Parrett (earlier), who remains at large.

Poulsen’s statement came in a letter from one of his attorneys which was attached to a motion filed on Friday by attorneys for Randolph Speer, who denies any knowledge of a plot and says the whole story was made up by the informant to reduce his prison sentence. Poulsen believes that the confidential informant is Robert Cihy, an inmate where Poulson is currently jailed. Cihy is being held on federal bank robbery charges; in a remarkable coincidence, he reached a plea agreement with the government on April 3, one day after the four executives were arrested. However, US District Judge Algenon Marbley on Monday denied a motion to compel the government to disclose its source. A bond revocation hearing for the four executives is scheduled for April 16 (Columbus Business First, Columbus Dispatch).