Sunday, August 14, 2005
Republicans are good with money. Coin-Gate for example.
Just don't ask what the definition of "good"is. The Toledo Blade examines the financial statements of Tom Noes rare coin fund. What they show is a goverment agency doling out funds for purposes other than a profitable return.
If publicly traded, Tom Noe's Capital Coin Fund Limited would have been downgraded by Wall Street in 2001, and investors might have cashed in their coins.IOKIYAR
Instead of fleeing, the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation upgraded its position that year and gave the politically connected Republican coin dealer another $25 million.
End-of-year financial statements released by the state last week show the coin fund was not the investment darling bureau representatives claimed and had falling profits that would strike fear in the stoutest Wall Street heart - an 18 percent decline from the end of 1999 to the end of 2001.
But the bureau enlarged its stake with Mr. Noe, who with his wife, Bernadette, gave $200,000 over the years to GOP candidates, committees, and parties. They socialized with Gov. Bob Taft and Attorney General Jim Petro, among other top state officials.
The financial statements and a slew of internal bureau memos and letters expose a state investment machine that favored the Noes over financial reality. The documents also show a desire by bureau brass to help Mr. Noe survive a critical bureau audit of his first coin fund, even helping him write a letter that would answer the audit's charges.
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