Five former executives of a health care company were convicted Thursday in a $1.9 billion fraud scheme that prosecutors likened to large white-collar crime cases like Enron or WorldCom.

The executives worked for National Century Financial Enterprises, described as the nation's largest health care financing company before its 2002 bankruptcy.

The five — some of the company's highest ranking executives — were convicted of multiple counts of conspiracy, wire and securities fraud, and money laundering.

The Justice Department said the defendants could each face several dozen years in prison, with exact amounts varying based on the individual counts they were convicted of. But actual sentences are usually much lower than the maximum penalties. In court, U.S. District Judge Algenon Marbley described a statutory guideline of 20 years.

The defendants and their attorneys listened without emotion as Marbley read the verdicts from a 27-count indictment one by one. Some of the defendants' family members appeared stunned and wept in the courtroom after the jury left.