A Cincinnati-area legislator apparently will make the state prove its case that he stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from investors, lied repeatedly to state investigators and funneled money to his campaign and a church that authorities label a "cult." State Rep. Peter A. Beck, a Mason Republican and CPA who already was facing a century-plus in prison if convicted of 16 felony charges related to theft and securities fraud, was indicted yesterday on 53 more felony counts.

A Cincinnati-area legislator apparently will make the state prove its case that he stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from investors, lied repeatedly to state investigators and funneled money to his campaign and a church that authorities label a �cult.�

State Rep. Peter A. Beck, a Mason Republican and CPA who already was facing a century-plus in prison if convicted of 16 felony charges related to theft and securities fraud, was indicted yesterday on 53 more felony counts. That would add as much as 305 more years to his potential prison sentence if he is convicted.

Beck had pleaded not guilty to the earlier charges and said he is innocent of the new ones as well.

�Mr. Beck looks forward to the trial starting on April 7 and is confident ... he will be found not guilty of all charges,� Beck�s attorneys, Ralph Kohnen and Chad Ziepfel, said in a statement. � 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.�

Although the trial could be delayed because of the new charges, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said prospects for a plea bargain are slim.

�My guess is this case will go to trial,� he said.

Beck and House Speaker William G. Batchelder agreed yesterday that Beck will give up the chairmanship of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. Batchelder said when Beck was originally indicted in July that he should resign, but the speaker backtracked in August and allowed him to chair the committee, which was heavily involved in major legislation on municipal-income-tax changes and, more recently, efforts to craft a severance tax on shale fracking.

Yesterday, Batchelder called again for Beck to step down. �It is still my belief that it is in the best interest of Rep. Beck, his family, and the constituents of the 54th House District for him to resign,� Batchelder said in a statement.

Ohio Republican Party Chairman Matt Borges also called last summer for Beck to quit; a spokesman reaffirmed that position yesterday.

Beck has filed to run for re-election this year; he faces a GOP primary challenge and raised less than $7,000 last year.

Batchelder said recently that House Republicans� caucus will back Beck in the election, but caucus spokesman Mike Dittoe said that in light of the latest allegations, that support will get further consideration.

The accusation that Beck was not truthful with investigators in May is new.

�To cover up/hide his true involvement in the matter, Beck perjured himself a number of times in testimony before the Ohio Division of Securities,� the indictment says.

Unlike the prior indictment, which dealt only with Beck�s dealings as chief financial officer of a startup software company, Christopher Technologies or CTech, some of the new charges relate to campaign contributions. Records show that his campaign got $15,700 from TML Consulting, a firm run by the late Thomas Lysaght, the �rainmaker� of the operation who was supposed to put investor money into a small portfolio of companies, including CTech.

Instead, the indictment said, investment money was diverted for Lysaght�s use; to Beck�s campaign; to Lysaght�s wife, Janet Combs; and to her church, the Ark by the River Fellowship Ministry.

The indictment says Beck was involved in stealing $500,000 from Michael Farms Inc. and diverting $5,000 of that into his campaign account. The indictment alleges that he also diverted investment money from a woman into his campaign account without her knowledge.

In the joint prosecution by DeWine and Hamilton County Prosecutor Joseph T. Deters, indictments also were issued against �co-conspirators� TML Consulting, Combs and Ark by the River of Cincinnati. The charges involve about $2 million in investments.

The indictment accuses Beck of persuading investors to give thousands of dollars to CTech without informing them that the company was insolvent and not paying its taxes. He also is accused of using his prior office as vice mayor of Mason to secure investments.

The indictment alleges that Beck and CTech President John Fussner diverted employee wage withholdings, and that Beck lied to his former accounting firm, Donohoo, Cupp and Beck, about his true involvement with CTech while the company owed the firm thousands of dollars.

Beck, 63, also faces civil allegations by his former accounting-firm partners, who say he deprived the firm of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Beck has maintained that he is a scapegoat and that he, too, was a victim of Lysaght�s scheme.

jsiegel@dispatch.com

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