Coingate

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Law firms reaped bounty in Noe case
$12,000 paid out from coin funds

By JOSHUA BOAK
BLADE STAFF WRITER


COLUMBUS - Law firms reaped thousands of dollars in fees from the state's $50 million rare coin investment with Tom Noe, raising questions about how the coin funds were managed and whether they served as Mr. Noe's personal account.


Facing criminal and civil action by state and federal authorities, Mr. Noe used money from the state coin funds he managed to pay more than $12,000 to law firms during 2004 and 2005, according to records released by the attorney general's office last week.

Attorney General Jim Petro said last week that Mr. Noe transferred nearly $4 million from the coin funds to private accounts, alleging that the money was spent on luxury vacation homes, automobiles, and boats.

As the state inspector general began to investigate the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation's coin funds in April, Mr. Noe hired the same lawyer responsible for vetting the bureau's investments and paid him from the state coin fund's checking account.

"They used the injured workers' dollars to defend the state and Tom Noe," said state Rep. Chris Redfern (D., Catawba Island), the House minority leader. "And he probably filed briefs from houses bought with BWC money."