JOINT PRESS RELEASE:

INSPECTOR GENERAL'S TASKFORCE

For more information, contact:
Ohio Ethics Commission
(614) 466-7090
or
Columbus City Attorney's Office
(614) 645-7483

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

ETHICS VIOLATIONS FILED AGAINST FORMER BWC OVERSIGHT COMMISSION MEMBER GEORGE L. FORBES

On Tuesday, July 3, 2007, Columbus City Attorney Richard C. Pfeiffer Jr.'s Office and Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien's Office announced the filing of six charges upon complaints signed and referred by the Ohio Ethics Commission and the Ohio Inspector General's Office, alleging violations of the state's ethics laws against former Bureau of Workers' Compensation Oversight Commission Member George L. Forbes. The charges were filed in the Franklin County Municipal Court under case number 07 CRB 168999.

The Ethics Commission and Inspector General are part of an ongoing investigative task force that includes city, county, and federal prosecutors, the Ohio State Highway Patrol, the FBI, the Investigative unit of the Bureau of Workers' Compensation, and the Division of Securities in the Department of Commerce, investigating issues related to OBWC investments and Tom Noe.

Count 1 alleges that from October 1997 and continuing through November 2003, Forbes recklessly accepted meals, entertainment, and other substantial things of value from American Express/Northwinds marketer Clarke Blizzard, at a time when Blizzard and American Express/Northwinds were doing or seeking to do investment-related business with the OBWC.

Count 2 alleges that on April 9, 2003 and continuing through June 3, 2004, Forbes recklessly accepted from Pat White of Great Lakes Capital Partners three private airline flights, from Cleveland, OH to Harrisburg, PA and back; from Cleveland, OH to Pittsburgh, PA and back; and from Cleveland, OH to Columbus, OH and back, at a time when White and Great Lakes were doing or seeking to do investment-related business with OBWC.

Counts 3 through 6 allege that Forbes knowingly filed false annual financial disclosure statements with the Ohio Ethics Commission for calendar years 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004, by failing to disclose Clarke Blizzard/American Express Northwinds as a source of gifts and/or meals provided to him for each of those years. They also allege that Forbes failed to disclose Pat White/Great Lakes as a source of travel expenses for calendar years 2003 and 2004, and that he failed to disclose JP Morgan-Chase, American Express, & Citibank as creditors, and the OBWC as a source of travel expenses, in each of those years.

Each of these violations is a first-degree misdemeanor, punishable by a maximum penalty of up to a $1,000.00 fine and/or six months in jail.

Forbes is scheduled for arraignment on Thursday, July 5, 2007, at the Franklin County Courthouse, 375 South High Street, Columbus, Ohio, before Judge Paul Herbert in Courtroom 4C at 10:30 a.m. The telephone number for information at the Municipal Court Criminal Division is 645-8186.

- 30 -