Ohio lawmaker facing new counts yields chairmanship

0

CINCINNATI (AP) — The speaker of the state House said
Thursday a southwest Ohio lawmaker has agreed to give up his powerful
committee chairmanship after a new indictment that alleges he engaged in
a pattern of corruption.
Speaker William Batchelder, R-Medina,
said Republican Rep. Pete Beck would relinquish chairmanship of the
House Ways and Means Committee, "effective immediately."
A grand
jury in Cincinnati on Thursday brought 53 new counts against Beck,
including one alleging a pattern of corruption. Beck already faced trial
in April after an indictment last year on 16 felony counts.
The
Ways and Means Committee helps review and set tax policy; it recently
has been weighing a proposed tax hike on oil and gas drillers.
"There
are several important initiatives currently being considered by this
committee that must continue uninterrupted," Batchelder said in a
statement. "These are proposals that will have a long-standing impact on
the state of Ohio, and all Ohioans can rest assured that the House will
continue the hardworking effort on these initiatives."
Batchelder
added that he thought it would be best for Beck to also resign his
seat, but noted that he didn’t have the sole authority to remove any
member of the House.
Beck rejected calls last year to resign after
the first indictment, and filed this year to seek re-election. He has
Republican opposition in the May 6 primary.
He was accused in
Thursday’s indictment of being part of an enterprise that misled
investors, laundered money and improperly diverted investors’ money.
Beck is accused of passing some of the money to his campaign committee;
the indictment says a Cincinnati church charged Thursday also received
investors’ money through the enterprise.
The indictment accuses
Beck of repeatedly lying to securities regulators and contains the most
serious charge yet. If convicted of engaging in a pattern of corrupt
activity, Beck would face a mandatory sentence of 10 years in prison on
that count alone.
The new charges were announced by Ohio Attorney
General Mike DeWine, whose office is jointly prosecuting the case with
the Hamilton County prosecutor’s office. Beck, 61, was indicted last
July on 16 felony counts and is scheduled for trial April 7.
His
attorneys said Thursday they were still reviewing the new indictment,
but that the charges appeared to be based on the same evidence as the
earlier ones. They said Beck looks forward to trial, and is confident he
will be acquitted on all counts.
"The charges contained in both
indictments are merely accusations — false allegations as to Peter Beck —
and Mr. Beck steadfastly maintains his innocence in this matter," said
the statement from attorneys Ralph Kohnen and Chad Ziepfel.
The former mayor of the northern Cincinnati suburb of Mason had criticized the earlier allegations as
"scandalous."
The
latest indictment alleges that that Beck solicited and persuaded
investors to put thousands of dollars into an insolvent software
company, misrepresented pending business deals such as one supposedly
involving a major cruise line, stole money from his accounting firm, and
put investors’ money into his political campaign fund, Friends of Pete
Beck.
"To cover up/hide his true involvement in this matter, Beck
perjured himself a number of times in testimony to the Ohio Division of
Securities," stated the indictment, which includes 10 perjury counts.
Both DeWine and Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters are also Republicans.
The
indictment identifies several people allegedly associated with the
enterprise, two of them deceased. The Ark by the River Fellowship
Ministries Inc. and Janet Combs, identified as its pastor, were both
indicted on nine counts, including engaging in a pattern of corrupt
activity. The indictment says money investors thought was going into the
software company or other investments went to the church, which is
called "a cult" in the indictment.
A telephone message was left Thursday at the church.
___
Associated Press reporter Ann Sanner contributed in Columbus.
___
Contact the reporter at http://www.twitter.com/dansewell
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights
reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
redistributed.

No posts to display