Source AP News via Yahoo News
A recent audit by the state of Ohio showed big money GOP donor Tom Noe had funnelled $25 million of the state insurance fund for injured workers into his businesses and the GOP beginning in 1998. The audit was part of 53 count indictment last week against Noe.
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The state is owed $13.5 million that allegedly was spent illegally as part of Ohio's ill-fated investment in rare coins that shook up the state's Republican leadership, the state auditor said in a report released Wednesday.
The audit alleges that coin dealer and GOP donor Tom Noe funneled state money into his own businesses, beginning the day in 1998 that he received the first of two $25 million investments from the state insurance fund for injured workers.
The report by Auditor Betty Montgomery was part of investigators' support for a 53-count indictment last week against Noe accusing him of embezzling at least $1 million from the investment.
After this scandal broke, the rush was on for career Republicans to return thousands in campaign contributions and distance themselves from the corruption that has beleaguered the party.
After the scandal broke last year, President Bush and Republicans in Ohio rushed to give back donations from Noe. The furor also raised Democrats' hopes of breaking a 14-year GOP lock on statewide offices.
Noe's attorney has long acknowledged a shortfall of up to $13 million of the money Noe invested for the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation. But the audit that counted the coins and examined bank records, check registers and accounting documents was the first detailed inventory of missing funds.
I just love this story. It brings to life the levels of corruption the GOP.
This stigma of corruption in the Republican party isn't just going away. It's kind of like a large rotten onion. The more layers we peel away, the worse things seem to get. I hope we get to the dirty rotten core soon so we can toss this thing out. This bad onion (the GOP) is stinking up the whole house and making things unbearable (the country).
Whatever happens with Noe, I'm pretty sure the state of Ohio would like its 13.5 million back.
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