FACT CHECK: Bernie Moreno Exploited “Inside” Political Connections To “Boost” Businesses, Enrich Himself
March 6, 2024
Associated Press: “Moreno sat on two government boards…each of those public entities boosted Moreno’s blockchain business while he served.”
Columbus, OH – Bernie Moreno exploited his “inside” political connections, hefty campaign contributions, and public board appointments to secure government contracts that “boosted” his blockchain businesses – leading Moreno to ultimately cash out for “at least $5 million.”
AP: Bernie Moreno running for Senate as outsider, but public entities he served boosted his business
February 7, 2024
- But Moreno has, at times, served on the inside. Shortly before he entered politics, he sat on two government boards — one in Columbus, one in Cleveland. An Associated Press review found that each of those public entities boosted Moreno’s blockchain business while he served.”
- When he cashed out his shares in blockchain company Ownum in April 2023 […] Moreno reported they were worth at least $5 million. Some of the company’s earliest votes of confidence had come from InnovateOhio and MetroHealth.
- Moreno was appointed to the InnovateOhio Executive Board by Lt. Gov. Jon Husted in April 2019.
- Moreno and Husted already had a history….Moreno contributed a combined $20,000 to [Husted’s] political campaigns, state campaign finance reports show. Moreno gave another $25,000 to the DeWine-Husted for Ohio gubernatorial campaign in June 2018 — shortly after Ownum was incorporated.
- At the time of Moreno’s appointment [to InnovateOhio], the company had just announced its first product: a paperless blockchain option for vehicle titling, called CHAMPtitles. Moreno already had made it known that Ownum would be pitching CHAMPtitles to Ohio, among other states.
- Husted said the office had received a “proposal” — he didn’t mention from whom — for the state to work with the private sector to modify Ohio’s vehicle titling system. CHAMPtitles tweeted the “exciting news.”
- Something like Husted’s backing — or the later support of MetroHealth’s CEO — held potential financial benefits for the company…
- …Armond Budish nominated Moreno to the MetroHealth board of trustees in September 2019. Moreno had donated $5,000 to Budish’s re-election bid in July 2018, county campaign finance records show.
- Six months later, Ownum’s second product, Vital Chain — which provided blockchain birth and death certificates — landed MetroHealth as its first client.
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