Taft relents, releases weekly reports related to workers' comp

[Algorem]

http://www.cleveland.com/newsflash/cleveland/index.ssf?/base/news-18/112188870110660.xml&storylist=cleveland

7/20/2005, 7:06 p.m. ET
By ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS
The Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Gov. Bob Taft on Wednesday reversed course and agreed to release weekly reports from top officials at the embattled state insurance fund for injured workers.

Releasing the reports from January 1999 through August of last year is in the public's interest because of ongoing scrutiny of the Bureau of Workers' Compensation's investment policies, Taft said in a letter to state Sen. Marc Dann.

Dann, a Youngstown Democrat, sued to force Taft to release weekly memos between the governor's office and the bureau from 1998 to 2004.

Taft, a Republican, had argued the reports were not covered by the state's open records act because they often contain sensitive material regarding employees, strategy for passing bills and prospects for economic development...

[Erika]

1. Taft needs to come clean

Insurance companies should not make vast profits from employee injuries or the premiums paid by the employers.

[Algorem]

2. Taft releases weekly reports from injured workers' chief

http://www.cleveland.com/newsflash/cleveland/index.ssf?/base/news-18/112189770677590.xml&storylist=cleveland

7/20/2005, 7:10 p.m. ET
The Associated Press

(AP) — Highlights of remarks by former Bureau of Workers' Compensation Administrator James Conrad to Gov. Bob Taft in Conrad's weekly reports. Taft released the reports Wednesday in response to a public records request by state Sen. Marc Dann, a Youngstown Democrat:

Jan. 30, 2003:

Comment: "In the interim, Terry Gasper, Chief Financial Officer, is doing 'double duty' and running the Investment department as well as the Finance Department."

Context: Gasper was filling in while Conrad looked for a new chief investments officer. Last fall, the bureau asked Gasper to resign or be fired after word emerged of a large hedge fund loss; he resigned in October and is now being investigated by the state Inspector General...

[shraby]

3. I'm waiting for them to investigate other funds....

if this one is screwed up, other ones probably have been tapped into also.

[WhiteTara]

4. kick

:kick:

[Algorem]

5. Attorney general alleges coin dealer stole state investment money

http://www.cleveland.com/newsflash/topstories/index.ssf?/base/news-18/1121975389133470.xml&storylist=

7/21/2005, 4:45 p.m. ET
The Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Attorney General Jim Petro on Thursday accused a rare coin dealer at the center of an investment scandal of stealing about $6 million from the state for personal use.

Financial documents from Toledo-area coin dealer Tom Noe show he improperly used $4 million of the money he received from the state insurance fund for injured workers to pay himself and his coin collection business, Petro said.

About $1 million of that money from the Bureau of Workers' Compensation was deposited in a bank account and used to pay off a loan for his business, Petro said.

Noe "pilfered millions intended for Ohio's injured workers," Petro said...

[Algorem]

6. Records show trading reaching fever pitch before fund was frozen

http://www.cleveland.com/newsflash/cleveland/index.ssf?/base/news-18/1121939693232830.xml&storylist=cleveland

7/21/2005, 6:51 a.m. ET
The Associated Press

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — A review of the state's rare-coin investment records shows trading activity from the coin fund and its various subsidiaries reaching a fever pitch just before the fund's assets were frozen, The Blade reported Thursday.

The Blade said millions of dollars in coins and cash exchanged hands among managers of Tom Noe's $50 million rare-coin venture in the days leading up to his admission that up to $13 million was missing from the state-funded operation.

Last week, the Ohio Supreme Court ordered the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation to release the transaction records in a lawsuit filed against the agency by The Blade. The documents were made public on Wednesday.

Noe, a Toledo-area coin dealer and prominent Republican fund-raiser, is facing multiple state and federal investigations into his management of the fund...

[Algorem]

7. Ex-aide seeks to block subpoena in coin probe

( ...Federal authorities are trying to determine whether he illegally disguised political donations to President Bush, and state officials are examining a $50 million rare-coin investment that Noe managed for the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation. Noe's lawyer has estimated that up to $13 million of the investment cannot be accounted for.... )

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1121938561222851.xml&coll=2

THE MISMANAGED MILLIONS

Thursday, July 21, 2005
Sandy Theis
Plain Dealer Bureau Chief

Columbus - As prosecutors race to beat the statute of limitations, Brian Hicks - the governor's former right-hand man - filed a complaint that could slow them down until the statute expires.

Hicks asked a Franklin County judge to invalidate a July 14 subpoena from Ohio Inspector General Tom Charles, arguing that it was improperly served on his attorney.

"Inasmuch as the subpoena has never been served on Mr. Hicks, it is invalid and unenforceable," Hicks' lawyer, John Zeiger, argued in a case filed Tuesday in Franklin County Common Pleas Court...