Did the Ohio GOP steal money?
From the Associated Press a week ago, we were rather alarmed to hear a growing story about stolen coins. Now, okay, coins are stolen all the time, usually because most of America is incredibly stupid NOT to keep coin collections in a bank or a private trust offshore. :-) Paul once had a coin collection; sure, silver coins, a few gold ones, some rare old Indian nickels, etc. Got tossed in the trash during an errant sweep of his bedroom when he was 16. :-P
So what is the big deal about these particular coins in Ohio? It's a major investment here, actually. $10 to 12 million in rare coins gone from the Ohio Workers Compensation Fund. Ouch. This translates to nearly a QUARTER of the total funds available for the Bureau of Workers Compensation of $55 million, which got into rare coins in the late 1990s as a way to hedge its investments in stocks and bonds.
Now authorities want to go after the former fund manager, Tom Noe, a private coin dealer and Republican donor who led the coin investment. Of course, what the media forgot to mention was that Mr. Noe is ALSO the head of the Lucas County Republican Party.
The story follows:
The Associated Press -- Thursday, May 26, 2005; 7:55 PM
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A scandal over Ohio's investment in rare coins deepened Thursday as authorities learned that more than $10 million in coins may now be missing. The state said it would prosecute and sue the fund's former manager.
Authorities originally had suspected that coins worth an estimated $400,000 had vanished, but an attorney for the fund manager told inspectors that $10 million to $12 million is missing, the state attorney general's office said.
That is about 20 percent of the $55 million investment by the Bureau of Workers' Compensation, which got into rare coins in the late 1990s as a way to hedge its investments in stocks and bonds.
"Such criminal action is outrageous and will not be tolerated," Gov. Bob Taft said in a news release. "We will pursue all legal avenues possible to recover these funds for injured workers and employers."
The focus of the investigation is Tom Noe, a private coin dealer and Republican donor who led the coin investment. Democrats have alleged that Noe was awarded the state's business in return for campaign contributions to Republicans, who control most of state government.
Officials do not know what assets are missing or where those items are supposed to be, bureau spokesman Jeremy Jackson said. Investigators had gone into Noe's coin shop under a court order issued Thursday morning, but weren't able to remove coins from their cases to inspect them and verify authenticity, Jackson said.
The bureau had made $15.3 million from the investments while Noe has collected about $3.8 million in commission. His shop outside Toledo had one of the two largest coin caches in the collection.
About a dozen cars were in the shop's lot Thursday, and a sign on the door read, "Closed for inventory." No one answered a knock.
"Mr. Noe will continue to cooperate with the investigation," said Jud Scheaf, a legal partner with Noe's attorney. He could not provide more details.
Questions about the investment surfaced in April when The Blade newspaper of Toledo found that two 1800s-era gold coins had disappeared. Noe said they were sent to a Colorado coin dealer but got lost in the mail in 2003.
The newspaper then reported that 119 other coins were missing. Noe said he thought the coins had been stolen by the Colorado dealer, whom he hired to assist with the fund.
The state responded by announcing plans to sell off its coin collection, which represents less than 1 percent of the bureau's total $14 billion in investments.
© 2005 The Associated Press
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We know, we know, Bush is highly insulated and this will never get back to him at all. But it just goes to show you the illegal, and immoral and just plain smarmy nature of these people. We knew the elections in Ohio were going to be close, and also knew the GOP would have to pull out all the stops to win the state.
Boy, did they ever pull them out!
Like a magician producing a bunny from a hat...
...TheScribes...
So what is the big deal about these particular coins in Ohio? It's a major investment here, actually. $10 to 12 million in rare coins gone from the Ohio Workers Compensation Fund. Ouch. This translates to nearly a QUARTER of the total funds available for the Bureau of Workers Compensation of $55 million, which got into rare coins in the late 1990s as a way to hedge its investments in stocks and bonds.
Now authorities want to go after the former fund manager, Tom Noe, a private coin dealer and Republican donor who led the coin investment. Of course, what the media forgot to mention was that Mr. Noe is ALSO the head of the Lucas County Republican Party.
The story follows:
The Associated Press -- Thursday, May 26, 2005; 7:55 PM
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A scandal over Ohio's investment in rare coins deepened Thursday as authorities learned that more than $10 million in coins may now be missing. The state said it would prosecute and sue the fund's former manager.
Authorities originally had suspected that coins worth an estimated $400,000 had vanished, but an attorney for the fund manager told inspectors that $10 million to $12 million is missing, the state attorney general's office said.
That is about 20 percent of the $55 million investment by the Bureau of Workers' Compensation, which got into rare coins in the late 1990s as a way to hedge its investments in stocks and bonds.
"Such criminal action is outrageous and will not be tolerated," Gov. Bob Taft said in a news release. "We will pursue all legal avenues possible to recover these funds for injured workers and employers."
The focus of the investigation is Tom Noe, a private coin dealer and Republican donor who led the coin investment. Democrats have alleged that Noe was awarded the state's business in return for campaign contributions to Republicans, who control most of state government.
Officials do not know what assets are missing or where those items are supposed to be, bureau spokesman Jeremy Jackson said. Investigators had gone into Noe's coin shop under a court order issued Thursday morning, but weren't able to remove coins from their cases to inspect them and verify authenticity, Jackson said.
The bureau had made $15.3 million from the investments while Noe has collected about $3.8 million in commission. His shop outside Toledo had one of the two largest coin caches in the collection.
About a dozen cars were in the shop's lot Thursday, and a sign on the door read, "Closed for inventory." No one answered a knock.
"Mr. Noe will continue to cooperate with the investigation," said Jud Scheaf, a legal partner with Noe's attorney. He could not provide more details.
Questions about the investment surfaced in April when The Blade newspaper of Toledo found that two 1800s-era gold coins had disappeared. Noe said they were sent to a Colorado coin dealer but got lost in the mail in 2003.
The newspaper then reported that 119 other coins were missing. Noe said he thought the coins had been stolen by the Colorado dealer, whom he hired to assist with the fund.
The state responded by announcing plans to sell off its coin collection, which represents less than 1 percent of the bureau's total $14 billion in investments.
© 2005 The Associated Press
------------------------------
We know, we know, Bush is highly insulated and this will never get back to him at all. But it just goes to show you the illegal, and immoral and just plain smarmy nature of these people. We knew the elections in Ohio were going to be close, and also knew the GOP would have to pull out all the stops to win the state.
Boy, did they ever pull them out!
Like a magician producing a bunny from a hat...
...TheScribes...
posted by ScribesUnlimited | 8:47 AM
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