FREE - TAKE ONE – ‘COIN’ EDITION
Noes Gave BGSU $17,350
Ribeau Urged To
Return Disputed Money
Bowling
Green native Tom Noe and his wife Bernadette contributed $17,350 to the Bowling
Green State University Foundation during the time that Tom Noe was investing
$50 million of the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation money in coin funds,
records show.
Many politicians, including President Bush, returned
contributions from the Noes that were received after March 31, 1998, the date
Tom Noe received his first $25 million to invest in coins from the BWC. The
Republicans reportedly returned the money because of allegations that money was
in essence state investment funds rather than money earned by Tom Noe.
BGSU President Sidney Ribeau should
return the money as “tainted” and restore the BGSU Foundation’s reputation.
Tom Noe is facing criminal charges filed by a federal
prosecutor in October 2005 and a 53-count indictment issued by a county grand
jury in February 2006.
The 3-count federal indictment charged that Noe illegally
saw that $45,000 was donated to President Bush’s 2004 re-election campaign. Noe
allegedly gave money to other people who in turn contributed it to Bush’s
campaign through Noe to get around the $2,000 individual limit.
The 53-count indictment by a county grand jury alleged
that Noe stole more than $3 million of the coin funds he invested for BWC and
alleged both laundering and racketeering.
It has been
alleged from various government and law enforcement sources that Noe may have
lost as much as $13 million of the BWC’s money between March 31, 1998, when he
received the first $25 million and May 2005.
Noe continues
under investigation by law enforcement authorities and prosecutors.
The extent of Noe’s
financial contributions to the BGSU Foundation since he began investing State
of Ohio money in 1998 has gone largely unreported despite the Pulitzer Prize-
quality investigative reporting by the Toledo Blade. The Bowling Green Sentinel-Tribune
ignored the story about Bowling Green native Noe for several weeks and
continues to downplay its coverage. So much for a local newspaper covering a
local story.
In order to provide Bowling Green readers the unreported facts,
BG 4 Corners News & Views obtained
the details of contributions by former BGSU trustee Noe since 1998 to BGSU.
An Ohio Public Records Act request under Ohio Revised
Code Section 149.43 was made to Sidney Ribeau, president of BGSU, on Dec. 3,
2005. Three weeks later a response from Thomas A. Trimboli, general counsel,
was received. He provided some documents and but stated in his letter that he
did so out of courtesy not legal obligation.
Why is this information
important?
It is
important because BGSU should not be apparently benefiting from what may be “tainted”
money. BGSU should return the money to the BWC to help replace the millions the
bureau apparently has lost, regardless of the outcome of the criminal
proceedings against Tom Noe. BGSU should be a good public citizen and return
the money.
I emailed counsel Trimboli on March 10 to ask if the
BGSU Foundation had returned the Noe contributions or planned to do so in the
future. As of March 20, I had no response.
Regardless of how the July 24 and Aug. 29 trials of Tom
Noe turn out, BGSU’s reputation appears to have been damaged by association.
President Sidney Ribeau should end all ties between the university and the Noes
and remove all references to them in BGSU materials. The reputation of BGSU and
the esteem that thousands hold for it are too important. (OVER.)
Page
2 4 Corners News & Views March, 2006
Here
is the list of contributions by either or both Noes to the BGSU Foundation:
Nov. 17, 1998:
100 baseball holders to the Athletic Department
June 19, 2000: $625 to the College of Musical Arts Dean’s
Council
July 16, 2000: $100 to the Don Cunningham Memorial
July 20, 2000:
$500 to Men’s Basketball International Travel
July 24, 2000:
$1,000 to Hockey Renovation
Oct. 29, 2000:
$1,000 to Hockey Renovation
Nov. 13, 2000:
$90 to Men’s Tennis
Jan. 16, 2001:
$1,540 to Noe Scholarship
Feb. 19, 2001:
$100 to Women’s Tennis
April 18, 2001:
$375 to Ice Hockey and Men’s Basketball Fund
May 7, 2001:
$1,000 to Hockey Renovation Fund
May 24, 2001:
$625 to College of Musical Arts Dean’s Council Fund
May 30, 2001:
$450 to Falcon Club
Aug. 7, 2001:
$1,000 to Hockey Renovation Fund
Sept. 13, 2001:
$100 to Albert E. Dyckes Health Scholarship
Oct. 11, 2001:
$250 to Men’s Tennis Fund
Nov. 2, 2001:
$1,000 to Hockey Renovation Fund
Feb. 13, 2002:
$1,000 to Hockey Renovation Fund
April 8, 2002:
$200 to Ice Hockey Fund
April 10, 2002:
$200 to Men’s Basketball Fund
April 29, 2002:
$880 to Football Fund
May 26, 2002:
$625 to College of Musical Arts Dean’s Council Fund, Noe Scholarship
June 3, 2002:
$250 to Kerm Stroh Scholarship
June 9, 2002:
$1,000 to Hockey Renovation Fund
Aug. 5, 2002:
$1,000 to Hockey Renovation Fund
Oct. 15, 2002:
$200 to Men’s Basketball Fund
Jan. 29, 2003:
$1,000 to Hockey Renovation Fund
April 1, 2003:
$200 to Men’s Basketball Fund
May 2, 2003:
$1,040 to Hockey Renovation Fund and Ice Hockey Fund
No
additional records of contributions were supplied. A copy of an email of June
30, 2003, discussing allocation of the Noes’ donations was included. An Aug.
20, 2003, letter to the Noes included two President’s Club parking decals and
an invitation to visit President Ribeau’s Box during football games.
An
Oct. 18, 2005, letter from BGSU was included reminding Tom Noe that a life
insurance premium of $250 was due for his policy that has BGSU as his
beneficiary.
BGSU
Foundation annual reports of 2004-05 and 2003-04 list Tom and Bernadette Noe as
members of the Founders Society, described as a giving level of $50,000 to
$99,999. The Noes are mentioned elsewhere in the two reports suggesting that
their donations and life insurance payments continued after May 2, 2003, but no
records were supplied by BGSU.
A
total of $13,485 or 78 percent was donated to athletics-related funds while $3,865
or 22 percent went to academics-related funds of the $17,350 total. In other
words, a fraction of the total went to benefit the educational mission of
Bowling Green State University.
Interestingly, many of the letters to
the Noes were authored by Marcia Sloan Latta, associate vice president
university advancement and director of development. She is the wife of Robert
Latta, the Republican State Representative from Bowling Green. She certainly
knows that Rep. Latta’s fellow Republicans have returned the Noes’ donations in
fear that Tom Noe will be convicted and the money legally will have been
tainted.
(Sources:
The Toledo Blade, the Associated
Press and the Columbus Dispatch)
--
John K. Hartman, editor and publisher.
BG 4 Corners News & Views
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