Senator Fedor and Dann: "Top leaders must be held accountable for missing funds"

PRESS RELEASE From State Senators Marc Dann & Teresa Fedor One of the largest political scandals in Ohio history rocks GOP Senators Fedor and Dann: ‘Top state leaders must be held accountable for millions missing in state funds’ (Columbus) - State Senators Teresa Fedor (D-Toledo) and Marc Dann (D-Liberty) said Friday that Ohio’s Republican leaders failed to act more than 56 days ago when news of the state of Ohio’s investment with Capital Coin Funds first surfaced. Their announcement was made immediately after Governor Bob Taft’s press conference this morning addressing the latest dramatic turn in the Coingate scandal: It was confirmed yesterday that at least $12 million of small business and disabled worker dollars were gone from the fund. State leaders, who had consistently said that there was nothing wrong with having wealthy Republican donor Tom Noe invest taxpayer dollars in rare coins, Thursday began back pedaling on their support of the Toledo businessman and suggested that crimes may have been committed. “We have watched Ohio’s statewide officeholders continually deny wrongdoing, dragging their feet for the last month and a half. This corruption must end and absolute one party rule must end,” said Senator Fedor. Fedor and Dann, who both initiated the launch of these multiple investigations into Coingate, released to the public an action plan which includes legislation to remedy the scandal (see attached document). “These criminal actions are the direct result of corruption. Governor Bob Taft, Attorney General Jim Petro, and Auditor Betty Montgomery took campaign contributions and assisted Noe by neglecting to do their jobs. Petro and Montgomery must get out of the way so that truly independent investigators can do their job,” Dann said. “The hero of the day is Inspector General Thomas Charles. Thanks to the leadership of the Inspector General, action is being taken salvage what assets are left. His hard work will get to the bottom of these wrongdoings. He is the only credible investigator,” said Dann. Ohio Gov. Bob Taft, who has collected thousands of dollars in campaign donations from Noe and whose staff members have vacationed with Noe, had been told of problems with the investments in March and was questioned about whether it is appropriate to place taxpayer dollars in such speculative investments as rare coins and sports memorabilia. The Coingate scandal involves nearly every statewide Republican and stretches to the Bush 2004 Campaign, among others. “The BWC’s administrator -Jim Conrad- treated us like criminals about the State’s irresponsible investment in rare coins and felt the need to send more that 8 memo’s reminding us of “the facts,” Senator Fedor said. “The fact is Conrad believed in a false profit.” “That is why I must reiterate the demand I made almost 4 weeks ago calling for Mr. Conrad’s immediate dismissal and a full investigation into what he knew and when he knew it.” Senator Fedor continued. Noe has admitted that $10 to $12 million dollars is missing from a $50 million dollar rare coin investment contract with the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation. "This scandal has no boundaries. It’s an unfortunate day when our government has turned into a bank account for the Ohio Republican Party. We have been calling for full disclosure and action for weeks, and our state leaders have failed to act. Petro, Montgomery, and Taft are accomplices after the fact," Dann said. "Tom Noe stole our money. Bob Taft did nothing. Jim Petro did nothing. Betty Montgomery did nothing. And now Ohioans are out 12 million dollars. This is wrong, shameful, and sad," said Dann. When asked what the next steps should be, Senator Fedor responded that full, independent investigations need to continue. “We must appoint special, independent investigators, prosecutors, and auditors to conduct investigations,” Senator Fedor said. “Every one of the state’s officials received money from Tom Noe, and none can be trusted to do a fair, independent job.”