So said Conrad Black, also known as Lord Black of Crossharbour. Lord Black waived extradition from Canada (his native home) or Great Britain (where he is a Lord) and will face a March 2007 trial on fraud, racketeering, and tax evasion charges.
Mr. Black built Hollinger International, a newspaper publishing company that owned the Chicago Sun-Times among other papers. Mr. Black and three other defendants are accused of selling some of their smaller papers to other companies they owned for less than the fair market value. At the same time, they allegedly received lucrative non-compete agreements.
Mr. Black is free on a $21 million bond. Last month a Canadian judge put Mr. Black and his wife on an allowance…of $45,000 a month. There is now also a restraining order prohibiting Mr. Black from selling various assets.
Former Sun-Times publisher pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count of fraud and is cooperating with prosecutors.
Links:
Chicago Tribune Story
Bloomberg Story
Ottawa Citizen Story
Tags: ConradBlack