Trial puts Noe figures in spotlight

[Judi Lynn]

Trial puts Noe figures in spotlight
Witnesses expected to tell how coin dealer siphoned BWC money
Sunday, October 08, 2006
John Caniglia
Plain Dealer Reporter

Toledo -- Tom Noe's confidants are prepared to describe how the politically connected coin dealer looted a $50 million pool of state money.

The once-powerful Republican fund-raiser goes on trial Tuesday on 45 charges that accuse him of siphoning about $2.3 million from the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation for him and his friends. It could take a week to select a jury in Lucas County Common Pleas Court.

Noe, 52, formerly of Maumee, oversaw investments in rare coins from his coin shop.

The trial is expected to provide a rare window into how backroom politics and Noe's close friendships with key officeholders and policymakers enabled him to gain investment business from an agency formed to help Ohio workers who suffered workplace injuries. If convicted, he could be sentenced to dozens of years in prison.
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