A costly investment fiasco in Ohio over missing rare coins has reached the foothills of Colorado.
Jefferson County sheriff’s officials raided the Evergreen home of Michael Storeim and confiscated computers, invoices, documents, hundreds of rare coins, 260 Cuban cigars and 3,500 bottles of wine Friday.
Brian Jeffrey, who represents Storeim in business dealings, said his client has a legitimate reason to have rare coins in his house.
“He’s in the business of buying, selling and trading rare coins,” Jeffrey said. “He has his personal collection.”
Storeim was formerly an employee of Thomas Noe, a Toledo coin collector who is accused of losing millions of dollars in Ohio public money while overseeing the state’s rare-coin investments.
The state of Ohio purchased about $55.3 million in rare coins in the late 1990s.
Last month, Ohio auditors discovered that approximately $10 million worth of coins was missing.
Storeim took over a subsidiary of Noe’s in Evergreen, called Numismatic Professionals. He resigned in March, but his attorney wouldn’t say why.
Storeim claims he is a victim of unscrupulous acts and has filed a lawsuit against Noe and other businesses in which he says $400,000 to $500,000 worth of rare coins and collectibles were taken from his office.
Jefferson County investigators became involved in the case two years ago, when Storeim filed a report with them about coins he sent to California for appraisal.
Storeim said when the package was returned, two coins were missing. Authorities couldn’t find a suspect, and the case was dropped.
Two weeks ago, Ohio authorities asked Jefferson County to review the case again because they believe the report Storeim filed was false and the coins may actually be the ones missing from Ohio, said sheriff’s spokeswoman Jacki Tallman.
Tallman said investigators believe Storeim could have sold the coins to himself at the price of 1 cent. He also could have bought the wine and other items at Ohio’s cost, she added.
So far, no charges have been filed.
Staff writer Daarel Burnette II can be reached at dburnette@denverpost.com.
