Posted By: Mark Thatcher

By JOHN SEEWER, Associated Press WriterMon Nov 13, 3:56 PM ET

TOLEDO, Ohio - A jury reached a verdict Monday in the case of a GOP fundraiser accused of embezzling at least $2 million from a rare-coin investment in a scandal that hurt Ohio's Republican Party on Election Day.
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The verdict was expected to be announced later Monday.

Tom Noe, a former Republican fundraiser, pleaded not guilty to charges of theft, money laundering, forgery and corrupt activity.

The scandal surrounding the investment became a political liability for the GOP, which lost all but one of the statewide, nonjudicial offices up for election Tuesday.

The Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation gave Noe $25 million in 1998, followed by another $25 million in 2001 to invest in rare coins.

Noe, 52, was accused of using some of the money to pay off business loans and finance a lavish lifestyle.

Defense attorneys insisted Noe had permission to invest the money and that the coin fund produced $7.9 million in profits over seven years.

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