Bye Bye Tom. Was it nice Noe-ing you?

[truthteller]

I wonder how many coin dealers will be subpoenaed to testify?

 

 

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060213/BREAKINGNEWS/60213015

 

COINS SCANDAL

GRAND JURY CHARGES NOE WITH 53 FELONY COUNTS

 

 

 

By MIKE WILKINSON and JAMES DREW

BLADE STAFF WRITERS

 

 

Tom Noe was charged today by a Lucas County grand jury with 53 felony counts relating to his dealings with $50 million in coin funds he managed for the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation.

 

An indictment unsealed today at the Lucas County Courthouse charges Mr. Noe with 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.

 

“We start a whole new chapter now,” said Lucas County prosecutor Julia Bates. “We start the litigation process.”

 

Also indicted was Timonty Lapointe, Mr. Noe's partner in Vintage Coins and Collectibles in Monclova Township. The business has been shuttered. Mr. Lapointe faces one count of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity under the RICO law and six counts of tampering with records. Mr. Lapointe will receive a summons to appear in court for arraignment.

 

Mr. Noe was taken into custody this morning after his attorney, Jon Richardson, entered a plea of not guilty on all charges.

 

Lucas County Common Pleas Court Judge Thomas Osowik set bond at $500,000.

 

Mr. Noe, a former GOP fund-raiser, was accompanied by his sister and brother-in-law.

 

Mr. Noe said nothing during the six-minute hearing.

 

The charges mark the first state felony charges since multiple law enforcement agencies began investigating Mr. Noe following Blade stories about the state's investment in rare coins with him.

 

The indictment calls for the forfeiture of Mr. Noe’s business, Vintage Coins and Collectibles, and the sale of his shares in Numismatic Guaranty Corp., a coin grading firm.

 

Mr. Noe was previously indicted in U.S. District Court in Toledo on three felony counts for allegedly laundering more than $40,000 to President Bush's re-election campaign.

 

The state invested a total of $50 million with Mr. Noe’s Capital Coin funds, beginning with $25 million in 1998 and another $25 million in 2001. He was set to receive a third $25 million, but the bureau changed course after The Blade began publishing stories about the coin investment.

 

Read more in later editions of The Blade and toledoblade.com.

[TomB]

Don't start thread titles like that!

[HaydenTubbs]

[michael]