toledoblade.com --

If some Ohio Democrats have their way, Tom Noe could find himself testifying at the Statehouse about the origins of "Coingate."

For more than three years, as a state and federal task force has looked into the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation, investigators have asked legislators to hold off on their own investigations.

But with the investigation producing no new charges in the past year, some, such as Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern, say questions at the heart of the scandal have gone unanswered.

"You just don't get millions of dollars to invest in rare coins," Mr. Redfern said. "It doesn't happen overnight - someone opens the door. We never found out who that someone was."

In 1998, the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation gave Noe, a former Toledo rare-coin dealer and Republican Party fund-raiser, an infusion of $25 million to invest in a rare-coin venture.

In the years that followed, Noe emerged as a key player in the Ohio GOP, winning plum appointments to the Ohio Board of Regents and the Ohio Turnpike Commission. Later, the bureau gave him a second $25 million, putting him in charge of a $50 million rare-coin fund.

In April, 2005, The Blade raised questions about the rare-coin fund, triggering the wide-ranging investigation that has netted nearly 20 criminal convictions, including former Ohio Gov. Bob Taft on misdemeanor ethics charges.

Noe is serving 18 years in state prison after being convicted of stealing millions of dollars from the rare-coin funds.

But through all of the investigating of state government, the bureau, and its investments, no one has come forward publicly to say how Noe persuaded the state to give him $50 million to invest in rare coins.

Newly sworn-in House Speaker Armond Budish (D., Beachwood) and his second-in-command, Matt Szollosi (D., Oregon), aren't closing the door to holding hearings to look at that question and others.

But they say the matter will take a back seat to other issues, including the economic crisis.

"At this point, are there still some unanswered questions? Yes, I think so," Mr. Szollosi said.

"However, the magnitude of the state's fiscal situation requires an all-hands-on-deck approach, Democrats and Republicans. We've got major challenges facing Ohioans today."

Phil Saken, spokesman for Mr. Budish, said, "There are things we want to talk about, but [it] is not a top priority for us right now."

Despite no new criminal charges having been filed in more than a year, Ohio Inspector General Tom Charles, who has led the task force since its formation in 2005, said the investigation is ongoing.

"It is not closed, but is there anything imminent? No," Mr. Charles said last week, declining to elaborate on what the task force continues to investigate.

Mr. Redfern, who began calling for legislative hearings in 2005, said putting Noe under oath before a legislative panel would be helpful as the Legislature weighs plans to reform the bureau or privatize it.

"Over the course of the last three years, there have been several pieces of legislation offered up that would reform the way business is done at the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation," said Mr. Redfern, a former state representative.

"Additionally, there were other pieces of legislation which increased punishments for officials who betray public trust. It would be helpful if we knew all the facts as they related to Tom Noe and the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation as we debate these pieces of legislation."

He added, "If we were to identify the weaknesses from those who actually perpetrated the crimes, it would be easier, and in the opinion of many, more appropriate to pass those reforms and it no longer becomes just rhetoric - it becomes significant in the way we change business in Columbus."

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