Toledo-area attorney and former Democratic congressional candidate Ben Konop sued the Lucas County Republican Party yesterday to recover $58,000 it received in loans from GOP fund-raiser Tom Noe that were not repaid.

Alleging that taxpayers were the loans' ultimate source, Mr. Konop asked the court to impose a restraining order against the party until the case is resolved.

"If he was really interested in recovering money for those folks, he wouldn't sue an orga-nization with less than $8,000 available to address those needs."

Indicted last week on charges of laundering donations to President Bush's 2004 re-election campaign, Mr. Noe previously managed a $50 million rare coin investment for the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation.

In a civil lawsuit, Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro has accused Mr. Noe of stealing $4 million from that investment to purchase vacation homes and repay commercial loans.

Mr. Noe loaned the party $40,000 in 2002 and $25,000 in 2004, according to records at the Lucas County Board of Elections. Records show a $2,000 repayment on the first loan in August, 2003 and a $5,000 repayment on the second one in December, 2004.

The party reclassified the loans as contributions this summer, claiming its former chairman, Mr. Noe's wife, Bernadette, approved them without informing the executive committee.

Mr. Haynam said the first loan came from the Noes' private equity line, according to missing financial records that Cosette Woodward, a former party employee, gave him this week.

"I would hope that this could be resolved amicably," Mr. Konop said. "And I would hope that the Lucas County Republican Party would want to do the right thing and repay its loan obligation."

This is cache, read story here