http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060214/NEWS09/602140373Article published Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Indictment shows GOP's corruption, Democrats say
DNC reiterates call for President to give back funds raised by Noe
By STEVE EDER
BLADE STAFF WRITER
Democratic National Committee officials said yesterday's indictment of Tom Noe is a prime example of the corruption plaguing Washington and Columbus.
The 53-count indictment against the former GOP fund-raiser comes on the heels of the guilty plea entered last month by lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who is at the center of a wide-reaching corruption scandal in Washington.
Both Mr. Noe and Mr. Abramoff share the elite status of Bush "Pioneers" because they raised at least $100,000 for the President's re-election campaign in 2004.
Mr. Bush has returned $4,000 in campaign contributions from Mr. Noe and his wife, as well as $6,000 from Mr. Abramoff, his wife, and a client, but he has not returned the money the men raised for his re-election campaign...
Analysts: Local GOP may feel fallout in November
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060214/NEWS09/602140359By JIM TANKERSLEY
BLADE POLITICS WRITER
Think you're hearing a lot about Tom Noe's indictment today? Wait until November, political strategists say, when Democratic candidates across Lucas County will likely flood the airwaves with attempts to tie their Republican opponents to Mr. Noe - fairly or not.
Democrats, Republicans, and independent analysts disagree which local Republicans could suffer at the polls from the charges against Mr. Noe, which include racketeering, forgery, and grand theft. But nearly all say they expect Democrats to wield the indictment as an electoral weapon in Lucas County, where Mr. Noe built his political influence...
"This is going to have a serious negative effect" on Republicans, said Domenic Montalto, executive director of the Lucas County Democratic Party. Later, he added, "Anybody who puts that R next to their name is carrying the water for Noe, as far as I see it."
Lucas County Treasurer Wade Kapszukiewicz called Mr. Noe "death to Republicans. … Anyone who had any sort of personal or financial relationship with Tom Noe is badly damaged."...
Chronology of Noe’s involvement
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060213/NEWS24/60212012/-1/NEWS...1991
• Then-Gov. George VOINOVICH appoints Tom Noe to the Bowling Green State Univeristy Board of Trustees.
1993
• In divorce proceedings, Mr. Noe says that his political work helps him meet people who became clients of his coin business, including the late Paul Mifsud, Mr. VOINOVICH’s chief of staff, and Republican Party leaders in northeast Ohio who "control a lot of money."
1995
• Governor VOINOVICH appoints Mr. Noe to the Ohio Board of Regents.
1997
• Governor VOINOVICH signs law that revamps how state can invest; opens the door to alternative investments like the coin funds that follow. Mr. Mifsud testified in favor of the law, as did Terry Gasper, the chief financial officer for the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation...
PROFILE
Noe's love of coins began in Bowling Green
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060213/NEWS24/60213001/-1/NEWSBLADE STAFF
Long before he rose to prominence with the Republican Party and became the confidante of high-ranking politicians, Tom Noe was a small-town guy with an affinity for coins and making money.
Mr. Noe grew up in Bowling Green, his father a working-class, union member printer. His interest in coins started early, before he was 10.
By the time he was 12, he was dealing coins at shows.
His hobby would become a career, with the lure of the numismatic world drawing him out of the college classroom before he could graduate...
Read the Noe indictment
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060213/NEWS02/60213019/-1/NEWS ATTACHED FILES...
Noe indictment - Cover
http://toledoblade.com/assets/pdf/TO4578213.PDF Noe indictment - Page 1
http://toledoblade.com/assets/pdf/TO4595213.PDF Noe indictment - Page 2
http://toledoblade.com/assets/pdf/TO4596213.PDF... COINS SCANDAL
GRAND JURY CHARGES NOE WITH 53 FELONY COUNTS
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060213/NEWS02/302130008/-1/NEWSBy MIKE WILKINSON and JAMES DREW
BLADE STAFF WRITERS
Tom Noe pleaded not guilty this morning to 53 felony charges that he stole more than $1 million from the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation and laundered more than $2 million from the coin funds he managed for the bureau.
Mr. Noe was taken to the Lucas County jail for processing as he attempted to post the $500,000 bond set by Judge Thomas Osowik.
A grand jury indicted Mr. Noe on 22 counts of forgery, 11 counts of money laundering, eight counts of tampering with records, six counts of aggravated theft, five counts of grand theft, and one count of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.
If convicted of all charges and he received the maximum penalty, he could face 172.5 years in prison. But Lucas County Prosecutor Julia Bates said only two of the felony counts have a presumption of incarceration and one, the RICO count, would require a mandatory 10 year prison term...
Ohio coin dealers feeling scandal's sting
Experts say industry thrives but 'Coingate' is cautionary tale
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060214/NEWS24/602140354/-1/NEWSBy CHRISTOPHER D. KIRKPATRICK
BLADE STAFF WRITER
Beth Deisher tells people she is editor of Coin World magazine in Ohio and some raise an eyebrow or pause disapprovingly, she said.
It wasn't always that way in her Buckeye State. But a $50 million rare-coin scandal this year involving one-time GOP fund-raiser and coin-dealer Tom Noe has stigmatized the industry, she said.
And a 53-count indictment announced yesterday against the former Monclova Township businessman, who sought audiences with the President and golfed with the governor, might only make it worse.
"They give you this funny look that by implication, anything or anyone having to do with coins is a crook. In this state it certainly has become a handicap if you're involved with coin collecting, rare coins, and bullion," she said...
Republicans trip on filing rules
GOP-sponsored law confuses candidates
http://www.cleveland.com/ohio/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1139651016144110.xml&coll=2Saturday, February 11, 2006
Sandy Theis
Plain Dealer Bureau
Columbus - Most Republicans running for statewide office will spend the weekend scrambling to collect the 1,000 signatures needed to qualify for the May 2 primary ballot - after learning they might have failed to follow new petition requirements.
GOP Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, who wants his party's nomination for governor, followed the new rules which require forms to be filed - under limited circumstances - before signatures are gathered.
His rival for the nomination, Attorney General Jim Petro, didn't file them, and blames Blackwell - who oversees Ohio's elections - for all the confusion.
Petro adviser Bob Paduchik said he asked Blackwell's staff last October if the new forms were necessary, and was told they weren't...
Political fur flies among officials
Gubernatorial candidate Blackwell blasts Petro for inaction
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060214/NEWS09/60214001By STEVE EDER
BLADE STAFF WRITER
COLUMBUS — For months, Democrats used the Tom Noe rare-coin scandal to attack Republicans. Yesterday, Republican Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell used Mr. Noe’s indictment to attack Attorney General Jim Petro, questioning the integrity of his opponent in the Republican primary for governor.
“Where was Jim Petro while Tom Noe allegedly pilfered millions of Ohio taxpayer dollars?” asked Mike Hernon, Mr. Blackwell’s campaign manager.
Mr. Hernon went on to accuse Mr. Petro of ignoring warnings from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and special counsels to investigate the investment practices of the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, which gave Mr. Noe $50 million to invest in rare coins.
“On top of that, while Tom Noe was alleged to be defrauding Ohioans, Jim Petro was giving taxpayer-funded special counsel work to Tom Noe’s wife. That might be called the ultimate ‘double dip,’” Mr. Hernon added...
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