The E-Sylum:  Volume 8, Number 21, May 22, 2005, Article 7

MORE PRESS ON OHIO COIN FUND

The Toledo Blade continued its coverage of the State of Ohio's
rare coin investments with an article published May 20, 2005:

"A Colorado coin dealer used insider information to skim profits
from Tom Noe’s $50 million state-funded coin venture, recently
released records from the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation
show.

An October, 2004, memo states that early last year Mr. Noe
“became aware of possible fraudulent activities” by Michael
Storeim, the former manager of Numismatic Professionals, the
Colorado-based subsidiary set up by Mr. Noe to buy and sell
rare coins for the state.

James McLean, the bureau’s chief investment officer, wrote in
the memo that Mr. Storeim bought state-owned coins and sold
them at a profit for himself.

State records show that bureau officials failed to heed warnings
from their own auditor almost five years ago about the potential
for insider trading within the Noe rare-coin funds."

"The Ohio inspector general and several other state agencies
are investigating the bureau’s rare-coin investments and Mr.
Noe’s campaign contributions to top state Republican
officeholders. And the FBI is investigating the local coin dealer
for possible violations of federal campaign contribution laws
concerning contributions to President Bush’s 2004 re-election"

“Mr. Storeim was sending coins to grading, and checking the
grading reports online prior to the coins actually arriving back
from grading,” Mr. McLean wrote in the memo. “If the value
went up, he was purchasing the coins himself or through a third
party at the original grade, thus saving significant amount of
money on coins which had been upgraded.”

"The October, 2004, memo references a transaction in which
Mr. Storeim purchased a coin from Numismatic Professionals
for $75,000, consigned the coin back to the firm at $140,000,
and then the company sold the coin for $150,000 to a third
party."

To read the full article, see: Full Story

The Denver Post published a related article on May 21: Full Story

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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