Ohio CoinGate Investigation is Corrupt!

[KerryOn]

I started screaming when I saw this article on the front page of the Columbus Dispatch today. Attorney General Jim Petro and Auditor Betty D. Montgomery authorized no bid contracts to investigate the 12 million dollars in missing Workers Compensation money. To date they have spent 1.2 million on the investigation.

{snip}
While probing investment losses and working to make Ohio’s injured workers’ system more accountable, dozens of consultants, lawyers and specialists are racking up whopping bills with limited accountability, a review by The Dispatch found. For example:

• Ennis Knupp was advised by a bureau attorney to artificially inflate its hourly fees to dodge state limits on reimbursable expenses such as travel costs. Even so, the firm still charged the bureau for travel time at the higher rates.

• Despite a $75-a-night maximum for lodging, the state paid more than $300 for a consultant’s one-night stay May 27 at a Toledo hotel.

• The state is paying some bills without a receipt. The spending is covered by contracts signed by bureau officials, Attorney General Jim Petro and Auditor Betty D. Montgomery. They justify the unbid contracts by saying quick action was needed for the services of top-notch professionals in response to investment scandals at the bureau.

Maybe they need to investigate the auditors that are investigating the scandal?

This Dispatch Article is a subscription service, but here is the link anyway:

http://ee.dispatch.com/Default/Client.asp?skin=Columbus&Daily=TCD&GZ=T&enter=true

[mtnester]

1. I am sure this DELIGHTS Ken Blackwell to no end n/t

[newscott]

2. Don't worry there is a separate federal probe going on too.

The state probe is a joke of a sham.

Petro has been saying all along that Noe acted alone and stole the money for personal gain.

We all know that this is bullshit.

It was a conspiracy to launder money and more imporatntly help keep Ohio in the red column in last year's election.

[KerryOn]

3. You got it....

... and before this is all over I think we will find out that Noe, Ney, Taft, Petro and Montgomery have ties to Delay and Abramoff.

[FreedomAngel82]

9. Something I'm wondering

is why would they need all that money though since they could just flip all the votes to rig them to win?

[MissWaverly]

12. they needed the money for the 11 swing states

and everywhere else there was a vote "shift"

[depakid]

4. A reasonable person might ask

What in the hell is wrong in Ohio?

This is starting to make Chicago & Cook County look clean by comparison....

[madmom]

5. I've lived in Ohio for over 30 years and I've been asking...

that question for about 30 years!:banghead:

[Hapameli]

13. The Bushes are from Columbus OH and Aiken, SC... they're bumpkins

That's why we're winning.

[Marie26]

6. It wasn't only the Worker's Compensation Fund that was robbed

My mother is a teacher in Ohio, and the school just had a meeting to tell teachers that they will be raising their health insurance rates, and will also CUT OUT ANY prescription drug benefits for teachers when they retire. My mother is now worried how she can afford to take her heart medication when she retires. I asked why they were cutting all these benefits, and she said that the state Ohio Dept. of Education (who runs the health care plans) is behind this. Apparantly the system is broke. "Why?" I asked. Well, she said, they invested the money in some coins and lost a lot of money. Dammit - Thomas Noe! Noe was the "coin dealer" who stole all that money from the Worker's Comp. & laundered it to the Bush campaign. I bet ANYTHING he is behind this. Someone in that Ohio Dept. got a payoff to "invest" the teacher's fund in Noe's fraudulent coin schemes - and the official & Noe both probably made a lot of money. The only ones who will suffer are all the teachers in Ohio, who barely make any money as it is. This makes me so angry - my mother probably paid part of her insurance fees straight to Noe; and straight to Bush. Has anyone else heard about this? I'm going to see if I can learn more about this. But it looks like the corruption extends throughout a lot of different areas of Ohio's state government.

[KerryOn]

16. The corruption is probably in ALL the...

... areas of Ohio's government not just a few. Bob Ney is due to testify very soon, and I'm sure some more players will be revealed when he does. My bet is that Ney, Petro, and Taft are all in on it. Who nows it may even go to the White House, Noe had frequent contacts with Karl Rove. So far Taft and a few of his staff only had misdemeanor charges brought against them. Here is a basic time line of the Ohio scandal:

July 6, 2005 Senator Marc Dann files a lawsuit in the Ohio Supreme Court against Governor Bob Taft for his failure to disclose public records relating to problems plaguing the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation scandal. The Governor withheld some of the requested records citing “executive privilege”. The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation invested $50 million in rare-coin funds controlled by coin dealer Thomas W. Noe. Authorities now say that $12 million in state money from the coin funds was unaccounted for. Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro has accused Mr. Noe of stealing millions from the investment. Noe was Regional Chairman of the Bush-Cheney reelection campaign in 2004. In April, the Toledo Blade repoted that Mr. Noe had frequent contact with Karl Rove. The Toledo Blade also reported that at a campaign rally on October 29, 2004, Bush meet backstage with Noe to personally thank him and his wife Bernadette for their work on the campaign.

August 17, 2005 Bob Taft Governor of Ohio is indicted on four misdemeanor counts for failing to report gifts, golf games, meals, and professional sports tickets. The gifts were worth nearly $6,000. The scandal also resulted in the misdemeanor conviction of Bob Taft’s former chief of staff, Brian Hicks, for failing to report a stay at Tom Noe's Florida vacation home. Hicks former assistant in the governors office, Cherie Carroll was also convicted of accepting free dinners from Tom Noe, in what was know as the “Noe Supper Club”.

October 27, 2005, Tom Noe, Ohio GOP activist and coin dealer is indicted on federal charges of laundering money to the Bush/Cheney campaign fund. He was also indicted for conspiracy and filing false statements. Noe donated as much as $250,000 to the Bush/Cheney re-election campaign. President Bush and at least 17 Ohio officials are returning contributions, including all three GOP candidates for governor, Attorney General Jim Petro, Secretary of State Ken Blackwell and Auditor Betty Montgomery. Tom Noe and his wife own a $1.85 million dollar home in the Florida Keys. (SunCruz Casino also operates from Key Largo.) Bernadette Noe was Chairperson of the Lucas County Board of Elections. After the election an investigation was made looking into voting irregularities in Lucas County. The report found gross failures on the part of Ms. Noe’s board in preparation of the election.

[liberalnurse]

7. We have a Democrat who is leading the

real fight against Coingate.....State Senator, Marc Dunn....

Here is his sites. He also links DU!

Scroll down and look on the left for DU.....

http://www.blogforohio.com/

snip> by Marc Dann

But others disagree:

"I think it's an unavoidable conclusion that there is a correlation between the amount of campaign cash that is going into Petro's pocket and special counsel contracts that these firms are getting," said Ned Wigglesworth, an analyst with TheRestofUs.org, a newly formed campaign finance watchdog group based in California.

The next Attorney General should create a totally transparent process for selecting lawyers to represent the State of Ohio. For each and every contract there should be a proposal that justifies the cost and the expertise necessary to do the work from the firm awarded the contract. Contributions from firms should also be instantly disclosed. I will be introducting a bill in the next several weeks to create a transparent,accountable process for awarding professional services contracts by the Ohio Attorney General. Even the contracts to investigate the BWC debacle were awarded to campaign contributors.


http://www.coinsforchange.com/

http://www.dannforohio.com/news.php

[KerryOn]

15. Thanks for the link...

I have been following the Ohio Coingate scandal and the Delay Abramoff scandal pretty close, but was not aware of Marc Dunn and his site.

I'm sure Taft and Petro are involved, and I hope they both get what he deserve. When Bob Ney testifies I'm sure some more players will be revealed.

[liberalnurse]

17. I met with him earlier this week

at a fundraiser. I think he may make a fantastic run for Ohio's Attorney General.

snip from his blog:

Marc Dann to Announce Monday

Marc Dann will announce his plans to run for Attorney General of Ohio, tomorrow, Monday November 14. The annoucement tour will kick off at 9 am at the Trumbull County Courthouse, in Andrew Logan's courtroom. The tour will continue to Sen. Dann's alma mater, Shaker Heights High School at 11:30 am, the Bureau of Worker's Compensation Headquarters in Columbus at 2.30 pm and will wrap up at Toledo Law School at 5 pm.

We hope to see you at any one of these events as we travel the state to begin returning trust to Ohio.

[SharonRB]

8. Is anyone surprised by this?

[mtnester]

10. Oh Snap...that was cold and low dirty and...

Go Bucks!

:)

[SharonRB]

11. What does this response have to do with the subject matter of this thread?

[mtnester]

14. I am sorry you were not on the same humor road I was

based upon your avatar and an Ohio thread.

Because it was definitely an attempt (albeit unsuccessful) at humor

[liberalnurse]

18. I got it.......

I think it was an accurate assessment. That was indeed my first impression. O8)

[mtnester]

19. Thought a Buckeye would!

:)

[SharonRB]

20. Sorry -- my post had nothing to do with the football

I just meant that with everything that's gone on in Ohio with the elections, etc., is anyone surprised by this.