Insider dealings at OH. Bureau of Workers' Comp probed("kickback list")

[Algorem]

http://www.columbusdispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/03/05/20060305-A1-00.html

Prosecutors search for evidence bureau officials got kickbacks

Sunday, March 05, 2006

Mark Niquette and Darrel Rowland
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

A handwritten list directing that state money go to select brokers is a key element of a probe into whether top officials at the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation got favors for steering agency investment business.

The list, which came from Terrence W. Gasper when he was chief financial officer for the bureau, specified how much each firm was to receive in commissions for stock trades, sources familiar with the federal grand jury investigation in Cleveland told The Dispatch.

A former bureau investment official who testified before the grand jury also suggested that Thomas W. Noe wouldn’t have received $50 million from the bureau to invest in rare coins if it weren’t "pushed from above."

The commissions on Gasper’s directive totaled roughly $15 million for the 25 to 30 firms that made the list; each broker was allocated a six-figure total ranging up to about $750,000, said a source with a copy of the list, which was replaced with newer versions every so often by Gasper...



Article published Friday, March 3, 2006

COIN-FUND FALLOUT

Probe of Bureau of Workers’ Compensation goes far beyond activities of Noe

Ex-chief financial officer facing range of allegations

http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060303/NEWS24/603030378/-1/NEWS

COLUMBUS — The law-enforcement task force investigating Tom Noe is conducting a far broader probe of the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, having interviewed hundreds of witnesses in what could result in a series of public corruption cases.

Investigators have uncovered other, previously undisclosed questionable deals with a variety of companies and people who invested money for the state agency.

Yesterday, Lucas County Prosecutor Julia Bates — a member of the task force — said she would not confirm any specifics of the group’s work.

“There is a wide web of possible criminal involvement that needs to be scrupulously and meticulously investigated, analyzed, and explored,” Ms. Bates said...



Noe’s Influence Still Not Explained

By The Intelligencer

http://www.theintelligencer.net/editorials/articles.asp?articleID=2770

It has become obvious during the past year that those in charge of investments for the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation simply weren’t exercising adequate control over individuals and companies given contracts to manage investments. Loss of $300 million from the investment fund made that obvious...


The more investigators probe into Noe’s affairs, the more they find evidence that he had powerful supporters — and continues to receive help. Investigators have listed several incidents during which it appears that attempts have been made to block their probe.

That shouldn’t be tolerated. The next time someone attempts to block the investigation, he should be charged with obstruction of justice.

Investigators need to get to the bottom of comments by some in state government that Noe seemed to enjoy some sort of immunity from oversight concerning investments. As one retired investments officer noted, “nobody ever asked him any hard questions ...” Ohioans should insist that hard questions be asked now.



Noe wants his friends back

http://www.cleveland.com/weblogs/openers/

While Republicans try to distance themselves from Tom Noe, the GOP fund-raiser and coin dealer at the center of Ohio’s government-corruption scandal, Noe refuses to let them get too far away.

In recent court papers, he tells the Ohio Supreme Court that he deserves credit for helping elect Republicans, most notably Betty Montgomery, the state’s former attorney general and current state auditor...




Noe filing, Part deux

Besides bragging about his success in electing Republicans, Noe also boasts of his prowess in intimidating Democrats in a recent filing with the Ohio Supreme Court.

“Perhaps the most effective way I found to obtain earned media was to vigorously pursue enforcement of Ohio’s election and campaign finance laws by filing, encouraging to be filed, or threatening to file legitimate complaints against Democrats.” ...