Trial begins on March 14, 2007 on Lord Conrad Black in Chicago. Here are Black's charges according to Fitzgerald's press conference in November of 2005:
Shareholders in U.S. and Canada allegedly cheated in sales of U.S. and Canadian community newspapers, including $2.1 billion CanWest deal
CHICAGO – New federal fraud charges involving the $2.1 billion sale of several hundred Canadian newspapers and the alleged abuse of corporate perks were returned today against Conrad M. Black and three other former top executives ,Vancouver attorney John Boultbee, Toronto accountant Peter Atkinson, and attorney Mark Kipnis of a largely-dismantled global publishing empire. Black, the former chairman and chief executive officer of Hollinger International, Inc., is among three new defendants charged with cheating public shareholders in the U.S. and Canada and Canadian taxing authorities in an expanded indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Chicago, announced Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. Today’s 11-count indictment alleges two new fraud schemes in addition to realleging a separate scheme first alleged in an indictment in August that the defendants fraudulently diverted more than $32 million from the U.S.-based Hollinger newspaper holding company through a complex series of self-dealing transactions. The first new scheme alleges that the defendants fraudulently diverted an additional $51.8 million in 2000 from Hollinger International’s multibillion-
dollar sale of assets to CanWest Global Communications Corp. Both of these schemes allege that the defendants engages in a series of either secret or false and misleading transactions involving sales of various newspaper publishing groups in the U.S. and Canada.
dollar sale of assets to CanWest Global Communications Corp. Both of these schemes allege that the defendants engages in a series of either secret or false and misleading transactions involving sales of various newspaper publishing groups in the U.S. and Canada.
More on Black's charges.
Federal prosecutors are counting on help from star witness F. David Radler, the former deputy chairman of the board of Hollinger and long the faithful No. 2 man by Black's side. He has pleaded guilty to a single count of mail fraud and agreed to tell the jury everything he knows about Black in exchange for a 29-month sentence and $750,000 fine.
If Black is convicted of all counts, he could be sentenced to up to 101 years in prison. The actual time would be determined by the judge and likely be much less. I look forward to covering his trial and the outcome.
Let me add the other U.S. Assistant Attorneys that are on Fitz's team:
ERIC H. SUSSMAN
JEFFREY H. CRAMER
JULIE B. RUDER
EDWARD N. SISKEL
Here is the information of the judge and courtroom:
Honorable Amy J. St. Eve
Courtroom 1241 (ASE)
Docket: 1:04-cv-07955
Black & Decker Inc v. Robert Bosch T
08:45
Notice of Motion
One more to add: Former founder, ex-CEO, and deceased Ken Lay was charged with an 11 count indictment on the collapse of Enron Corp.
The collapse of Enron and WorldCom (now convicted ex-CEO Bernie Ebbers) unleashed a new era in shareholder activism and corporate governance that sparked the shareholder rebellion at Hollinger International and the ouster of Lord Black as the company's chief in 2003.
4 comments:
Some of the employees of the Suntimes can't wait for him to get put away, how he cut back on raises, benefits and then they find this out.....plenty of upset people
101 years.... Conrad Black sounds like another Ken Lay of corporate fraud.
Amy St. Eve was the same judge on the Salah trial.
Thanks for that heads up. We shall see what happens in the Black trial. I guess it is the Enron in Chicago case.
Post a Comment