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Conrad Black
faces eight
counts of
fraud Conrad Black was charged yesterday with eight counts of fraud after allegedly pocketing millions of pounds of shareholders' money. The charges were brought after a lengthy investigation by the United States attorney's office and the FBI into Lord Black and the publishing group Hollinger International, the former owner of The Daily Telegraph, of which he was the chief executive until November 2003. He and three other former executives of Hollinger International are accused of diverting proceeds from the sale of some of the group's newspapers by disguising them as non-competition payments. Lord Black, 61, is also accused of misusing corporate perks by using a company-owned jet to take him and his wife, Barbara Amiel, on holiday to French Polynesia in 2001 and using Hollinger money to throw a $62,000 surprise birthday party for her. Patrick Fitzgerald, the attorney for the northern district of Illinois, said at a press conference: "Officers and directors of publicly-traded companies who steer shareholders' money into their pockets should not lie to the board of directors to get permission to do so. "The indictment charges that the insiders at Hollinger, all the way to the top of the corporate ladder, whose job it was to safeguard the shareholders, made it their job to steal and conceal." Lord Black and John Boultbee, the former Hollinger chief financial officer, both face eight counts of mail fraud and wire fraud. Mark Kipnis, the former company secretary, faces nine similar counts, and Peter Atkinson, the former executive vice-president, faces six counts. Each count carries a maximum penalty of five years in jail and a $250,000 fine. David Radler, Hollinger's deputy chairman, has already pleaded guilty to one count of fraud. The indictment seeks forfeiture of at least $80 million from the four men, plus $8.5 million that was seized last month from Lord Black's sale of his apartment in Park Avenue, New York, and his Florida house. Among the allegations that Lord Black faces is that he used $1.5 million of company money to renovate his Park Avenue apartment in New York. Arrest warrants have been issued for him, Mr Boultbee and Mr Atkinson. Officials said they would allow the men to appear voluntarily in court in Chicago or they would seek extradition. Robert Grant, of the FBI, said: "The alleged frauds were blatant and persuasive. They extended from back rooms to the board room and from Park Avenue to the South Pacific."
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