Link:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-noe12jun12,0,1222608,full.story?coll=la-home-nation
Snip: <TOLEDO, Ohio — Not that long ago, Tom Noe was a regular and welcome
figure in political circles throughout the state.
For years, the rare-coin dealer and collector and his wife,
Bernadette, had contributed to and helped raise tens of thousands of
dollars for GOP candidates.
Noe gave campaign contributions to five of Ohio's seven Supreme
Court justices and to President Bush's reelection campaign. He gave
money to newly elected California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in the
spring of 2004.
Now, Noe is at the center of a political and financial scandal
revolving around an unorthodox $55.4-million fund for the state's
workers' compensation bureau that involved the buying and selling of
rare coins.
Last month, authorities learned that at least $12 million of the
state's investment for injured workers was missing. Two gold coins,
worth about $300,000, had somehow been lost in the mail.
The director of the state bureau voluntarily quit. A judge has
ordered the return to Ohio of coins stored in four other states and
has frozen the Noes' assets.
And as state officials prepare to file criminal and civil charges
against Noe, 50, the GOP is stampeding away from the former Lucas
County GOP chairman. Dozens of Republicans — including Bush,
Schwarzenegger and Ohio Gov. Robert A. Taft — are returning more
than $100,000 in donations.
Because campaign laws prevent the politicians from giving the money
directly back to Ohio, they have been writing checks to a slew of
Ohio charities. Some are sending checks to organizations that help
injured workers; others are opting to give to hospitals.
State authorities, prompted by what has been dubbed "Coingate," are
examining what other investments the embattled workers' compensation
bureau has made. Last week, the bureau said that it had lost $215
million in a high-risk hedge fund.>
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