Conviction in Coingate

Tom Noe, a coin dealer that took $50 million from the Ohio Board of Workers Compensation between 1998 and 2001, was convicted Monday of theft, corrupt activity, money laundering, forgery and tampering with records, according to press reports.

The corrupt activity charge could land him a mandatory 10-year prison sentence.

Noes actions were the catalyst of Coingate, a scandal that would lead to a disclosure fight between the The Columbus Dispatch and the general partners that had taken money from The Ohio BWC (see Dispatch settles with Ohio BWC); the release of interim performance numbers in a report from Ennis Knupp & Associates (get it here); and Ohio BWCs decision to sell much of its portfolio on the secondary market (see Ohio BWC inches closer to secondary sale).