toledoblade.com -- Noe involved in 'absolute theft of funds,' Ohio's attorney general says

COLUMBUS — Tom Noe converted millions of dollars in Ohio money for personal use, while using a “Ponzi” scheme to hide what was taking place within his $50 million state-funded rare-coin venture, the state’s top attorney charged today.

Attorney General Jim Petro said there is evidence that Mr. Noe may have pocketed nearly $4 million in money invested with him through the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, including a $1.375 million wire transfer to Tom Noe, Inc., a company Mr. Noe owned and controlled, on the same day he received the first of two $25 million payments from the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation in 1998.

Mr. Petro asked a judge today to further restrict the sale of Mr. Noe’s assets, and amend the state’s lawsuit against the Toledo-area coin dealer to include charges of breach of contract, negligence, and unjust enrichment.

“Over the next several days leading into this week, we came to believe that there was an absolute theft of funds going on,” Mr. Petro said at a news conference today.

Judson Scheaf, a Columbus attorney who is representing Mr. Noe, declined to respond to Mr. Petro’s assertion that Mr. Noe had converted nearly $4 million of the state’s money, except to say: “Mr. Petro will have to prove his case in court.”

Mr. Scheaf said it was “unnecessary” for Mr. Petro to file a motion to add three counts to the lawsuit the state filed against Mr. Noe in Franklin County.

“There is nothing new in the allegation of conversion. Mr. Petro has no judgment against Mr. Noe. He has no business conducting discovery or seeking information about Mr. Noe’s private information,’’ he said.

The announcement came the same day that The Blade reported that there was a flurry of activity in the coin funds in the weeks leading up to the state’s freezing of its assets on May 24, two days before Mr. Noe’s attorneys acknowledged that up to $13 million of the state’s money was missing.

The Blade first reported on Mr. Noe’s coin investment on April 3. There are now multiple state and federal investigations underway to determine exactly what took place in the coin funds.

Contact Steve Eder at: seder@theblade.com or 614-221-0496.

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