Ohio GOP Wasteland Update

Noe transferred coin cash before giving to politicians.

The Toledo Blade has a nice time line on Noe's illegal contributions and GOP corruption in Ohio before and after 2004 Presidential election

Tom Noe often transferred tens of thousands of dollars from the Ohio rare-coin funds he managed to his personal business before bankrolling Republican candidates and causes with contributions and loans.

A Blade examination of the accounting records from Mr. Noe’s $50 million rare-coin venture shows a pattern of large sums of money moving from the coin funds to his personal business, Vintage Coins and Collectibles, in the days and weeks before the coin dealer and his wife, Bernadette, made contributions to Republican candidates ranging from President Bush to U.S. Sen. George Voinovich and Gov. Bob Taft down to Lucas County Auditor Larry Kaczala.

It seems Noe can't escape the fact that he used Ohio state funds and taxpayer money to fund his Ponzi scheme coin venture and pad his personal account. What is really illegal is that he cannot explain the large campaign contributions. But it is par for the course. Now that Governor Taft has become the only Ohio governor to be charged with crime and is connected to Noe, you wonder if Ohioans are going to show the GOP the door...

Daily Kos looks into a story by Blade reporter on Noe back in 2004 via Salon. Interesting...