As reported by DispatchPolitics.com re: Tom Noe
Julian
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Auction house pays $2.5 million for Noe's baseball, presidential memorabilia
Tuesday, December 18, 2007 7:58 AM
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- A cracked bat once used by Hall of Fame slugger Reggie Jackson, autographs from Yankees great Mickey Mantle and other memorabilia were among the latest items sold by a government agency seeking to recoup money from a former Republican fundraiser who stole from a $50 million investment fund he managed for the state.
The collection, which also included presidential campaign items such as a 1972 Richard Nixon Frisbee disc, was sold Monday to an Illinois auction house for $2.5 million.
The items were part of an unorthodox investment made by Tom Noe, a coin dealer from Toledo who managed the fund on behalf of the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation. He was convicted of theft and other crimes and sentenced last year to 18 years in prison.
The agency, which began liquidating the collection in August, has recovered about $45.4 million of the $50 million invested by Noe, a spokesman said.
It's unclear if the agency will recover all of its money by the time the liquidation ends in the spring. There are still some stocks and collectible items to sell.
Other items sold Monday included blueprints to League Park, the former home of the Cleveland Indians, and lyrics to “Over the Rainbow” signed by lyricist Edgar Harburg.
Doug Allen, president of Mastro Auctions Inc., which bought the collection, said the items will be sold in various batches offered at the six auctions the firm holds every year.
The Noe scandal played a key role in the election last year of Democrats to four of five statewide offices, including the governor's office, which Republicans had held for 16 years.
Besides his state conviction, Noe was given a three-year, three-month sentence in federal court for illegally funneling $45,000 in contributions to President Bush's 2004 re-election campaign.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007 7:58 AM
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- A cracked bat once used by Hall of Fame slugger Reggie Jackson, autographs from Yankees great Mickey Mantle and other memorabilia were among the latest items sold by a government agency seeking to recoup money from a former Republican fundraiser who stole from a $50 million investment fund he managed for the state.
The collection, which also included presidential campaign items such as a 1972 Richard Nixon Frisbee disc, was sold Monday to an Illinois auction house for $2.5 million.
The items were part of an unorthodox investment made by Tom Noe, a coin dealer from Toledo who managed the fund on behalf of the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation. He was convicted of theft and other crimes and sentenced last year to 18 years in prison.
The agency, which began liquidating the collection in August, has recovered about $45.4 million of the $50 million invested by Noe, a spokesman said.
It's unclear if the agency will recover all of its money by the time the liquidation ends in the spring. There are still some stocks and collectible items to sell.
Other items sold Monday included blueprints to League Park, the former home of the Cleveland Indians, and lyrics to “Over the Rainbow” signed by lyricist Edgar Harburg.
Doug Allen, president of Mastro Auctions Inc., which bought the collection, said the items will be sold in various batches offered at the six auctions the firm holds every year.
The Noe scandal played a key role in the election last year of Democrats to four of five statewide offices, including the governor's office, which Republicans had held for 16 years.
Besides his state conviction, Noe was given a three-year, three-month sentence in federal court for illegally funneling $45,000 in contributions to President Bush's 2004 re-election campaign.
PNG member, numismatic dealer since 1965. Operates a retail store, also has exhibited at over 1000 shows.
I firmly believe in numismatics as the world's greatest hobby, but recognize that this is a luxury and without collectors, we can all spend/melt our collections/inventories.
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I firmly believe in numismatics as the world's greatest hobby, but recognize that this is a luxury and without collectors, we can all spend/melt our collections/inventories.
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Check out my current listings: https://ebay.com/sch/khunt/m.html?_ipg=200&_sop=12&_rdc=1
At least this turn of events adds another layer to the already interesting stories behind the liquidated items.
So I guess he didn't "steal" 50 million as claimed. Will his conviction be set aside if they "recover" more
then the 50 million "stolen"?
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<< <i>The agency, which began liquidating the collection in August, has recovered about $45.4 million of the $50 million invested by Noe, a spokesman said.
So I guess he didn't "steal" 50 million as claimed. Will his conviction be set aside if they "recover" more
then the 50 million "stolen"? >>
The question is, what would the $50 million have been worth had it been properly invested and administered? $70 million? $80 million? $100 million? Those were great times, when anybody could have made money. If the sale nets "only $50 million," how much more were the people of Ohio cheated out of?
TD
somehow it's been essentually recovered, with more to come. So, how has it been "stolen"?
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<< <i>There's no guarantee of an investment return and I've never heard of anyone being convicted for failing to make a profit. But I have a real problem with a media story claiming Noe stole 50 million, yet
somehow it's been essentually recovered, with more to come. So, how has it been "stolen"? >>
Guess something for the lawyers to think about on appeal.
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How much did the derivatives investments lose for Ohio's Workers' Compensation? It was hundreds of millions as I recall. Here's an article from finalternatives.com from 10/17/2007 regarding a hedge fund investment gone bad. Notice how the reported says that the rare coin loss was $50 million. Wrong. Try $5 million. Then (and I don't know how the author can explain this) the artilce goes on to say that the hedge fund loss of $216 million is "only overshadowed by a $50 million loss in a rare-coins fund." Huh? So $50 million is more than $216 million? Where's my calculator??
A hedge fund manager linked to a scandal that rocked Ohio politics will go on trial for fraud this week in Akron.
Mark Lay of Pittsburgh-based MDL Capital Management stands accused of defrauding the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation by putting its money in a volatile hedge fund without its approval. The agency lost $216 million in the investment, only overshadowed by a $50 million loss in a rare-coins fund run by a top Republican fundraiser, who was convicted of stealing from said fund.
The scandal, in which Ohio’s then-governor, Bob Taft, was convicted of misdemeanor ethics charges, help lead to a Republican wipe-out in last year’s elections.
The daughter of the BWC oversight board member George Forbes also worked at MDL Capital.
Lay’s attorneys call the charges sour grapes, accusing Ohio authorities of simply looking for a scapegoat.
<< <i>seeking to recoup money from a former Republican fundraiser >>
Gee, no bias in that article.
Russ, NCNE
1) We do not know if the items sold were from Noe's collection of investment's for the state or from Noe's collection of investments for himself.
2) But, more fundamentally, I have an offer for Wolf359, MoneyLA, meos1: How about the following deal: You give me $10,000. I promise to invest it for, say, 14 years. I then take the $10,000 and skim off $5,000 for myself. I put the remaining $5,000 in a bank at 5% interest. At that rate, the $5,000 will double in about 14 years. So at the end of the 14 years, I return your $10,000 to you and say "No harm, no foul--you got your money back, right???" If you are interested in this sort of deal, I'll pm you my address and you can send me a check as promptly as possible.
Apropos of the coin posse/aka caca: "The longer he spoke of his honor, the tighter I held to my purse."
Not certain you can recover based on "what should have been". I can be wrong but my experience says you can recover your loss but not the potential returns on your investment which was "stolen".
Look at it this way: You have damages to your house (Investment) by a contractor you hire for a specific job. You can recover your damages to make repairs but not the pain and suffering this issue causes by relieving you normal enjoyment (Return on your investment), nor the potential increase in value of the house that you did not realize.
The law only makes you whole to the extent of your claim in damages. Anymore and you are being unjustly enriched.
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According to your reasoning of loss, you should be agreeable to the investment opportunity I offered you a few posts ago...
He absolutely did commit the crimes and he deserves punishment. But the issue is more about a matter of severity. People have committed murder and had a smaller sentence. Others who have extorted money or stolen money of the same magnitude have received far lighter sentences. For example, the CFO of Enron got 6 years in a minimum security prison. They put Tom Noe in with the general population comprised of drug dealers, rapists and murderers for a total of 21 years (including the Federal sentence). It is essentially a death sentence. Maybe that was the plan all along: make sure he doesn't come out alive so that he will never be able to talk via the media or a tell-all book. I bet that he knows way more than he should regarding government officials.
Don't beat this horse too long. The last time Noe made headlines, we got sales tax on coins/currency here in Buckeye land. If they get stirred up again, who knows what we will endure? We have already lost most of our larger shows/dealers.
Apropos of the coin posse/aka caca: "The longer he spoke of his honor, the tighter I held to my purse."
Since the recovered money to date was from forced sales and and subject to large discounts, I wonder what may have been realized if the collection had been sold in a good manner? $60 mil? More is my guess.
Is Noe liable for gains not achieved? Is a broker dealer liable for losing money in a fund that they managed?
See my second post first sentence.
Dan
First Place Winner of the 2005 Rampage design contest!
Good point--
First Place Winner of the 2005 Rampage design contest!
<< <i>There's no guarantee of an investment return and I've never heard of anyone being convicted for failing to make a profit. But I have a real problem with a media story claiming Noe stole 50 million, yet
somehow it's been essentually recovered, with more to come. So, how has it been "stolen"? >>
Granted, he didn't steal the entire 55M he was entrusted with. He likely only stole a few million directly.
If someone is charged with investing 55 million, spends millions of the money on personal property and other assets which are later sold under court order (recovering some of the illegitimate proceeds)-do we not consider that stealing? What if they pretend to have assets (such as valuable coins) which they report as belonging to the state of Ohio investment funds, but which actually belonged to other Noe clients?
What i said individual conspires to subvert campaign finance law as well?
yeah, I guess Gordon Hsu should not be jailed either-by some of the above logic.
<< <i>And Paul Krugman was an Enron advisor for years and got away scott free. All he got was a lousy column at the New York Times. >>
And Enron/Krugman has what to do with Noe?
But I'll play along-
And George Bush received hundreds of thousands in campaign contributions, while subsequently making decisions involving electricity regulation which directly affected Enron profits, and got away "scott free" with being deceptive about the relationship between GW Bush and Ken Lay.
<< <i>If an individual robs a bank, gets caught, and all monies recovered... he still goes to jail for bank robbery. Cheers, RickO >>
I'm not saying he shouldn't go to jail, i'm saying the way that the recovered coins are being distributed is a joke. If they wanted to recover their money and perhaps made a profit, let the market decide a value for the coins at auction. Instead they have sold massive lots of coins in 'closed' deals. Local dealers and collectors alike are livid!