Chicago — Conrad Black brushed aside new criminal charges that were formally levelled against him yesterday with a slight wave to reporters and best wishes for a Merry Christmas.
“I think you can figure out what's going on here,” Lord Black said as he left a Chicago courtroom yesterday after pleading not guilty to charges of racketeering, money laundering, obstruction of justice and fraud. He declined further comment other than to say “Merry Christmas to all of you. It's going to be a great trial” before stepping into a silver Cadillac SUV which whisked him to the airport.
Lord Black, 61, has already pleaded not guilty to several counts of fraud over allegations he and four other former executives at Chicago-based Hollinger International Inc. took $84-million (U.S.) from the company. The U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois filed the four new charges on Thursday and they are much more serious, carrying penalties of up to 20 years in jail, compared with five years for fraud. Prosecutors are also seeking nearly $100-million in fines and property from Lord Black.
During arraignment on the new charges yesterday before Judge Amy St. Eve, Lord Black stood confidently as his lawyers entered the not guilty plea. He had only seen the new allegations minutes before entering court, when his lawyers pulled him aside and gave him a copy of the revised indictment.
Just as the hearing was about to begin, officials with the U.S. Attorney's office handed a small box to Lord Black's lawyers. The box contained compact discs loaded with 1.3 million documents that prosecutors have gathered as part of their investigation in the Hollinger case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Sussman told Judge St. Eve during the hearing that he expects to turn over another 500,000 documents to Lord Black's legal team as part of the discovery process, which takes place before trials so that defendants can prepare. “That's documents, not pages,” Mr. Sussman added.
Judge St. Eve said that because of the vast amount of material and the complexity of the case, Lord Black's trial won't start until March 5, 2007, at the earliest. It is expected to last at least three months.
Lord Black had little to say during the hearing; however, his lead lawyer, Toronto's Edward Greenspan, confirmed Lord Black had turned over an antique gun from his Toronto home. Judge St. Eve had ordered the gun secured earlier this month.
Edward Genson, a Chicago lawyer who is part of Lord Black's legal team, told the judge Lord Black is planning a trip to Britain, where he is a member of the House of Lords. Judge St. Eve said she needed to review specific details of any proposed trip and would then decide whether to approve it. Lord Black's bail conditions restrict his travel outside North America. Judge St. Eve did not change any of the terms of Lord Black's bail, which includes a $20-million bond secured mainly by his home in Palm Beach, Fla.
On the way out of the courthouse, Lord Black's lawyers tried to avoid the mayhem that occurred during his last court appearance. At that time, a crush of reporters nearly knocked over Mr. Genson, who walks with a cane and also uses a scooter to get around.
This time, Mr. Genson took to his red scooter and cleared a path through reporters for Lord Black. As Lord Black and Mr. Greenspan walked slowly behind, Mr. Genson drove forward shouting that he would break any television cameras that got too close. “Do you understand that?” he said sharply. “One of those cameras gets in my face, I swear I'll break it. So stop this crap.”
After Lord Black got into the car, Mr. Genson put his scooter in reverse and said he is confident Lord Black will be vindicated. “When this thing comes to trial, and it's going to come to trial, they are going to find, and that is the jury and all you guys, that he didn't do a darn thing wrong,” Mr. Genson said. “We are going to have an opportunity to show that all of this negative publicity has been unjustified, that he didn't commit any crime.”
When asked whether he thinks prosecutors are piling on with the new allegations, Mr. Genson smiled and said: “You guys are piling on. But yeah, they are piling on . . . it's overreaching.”
Two of the other defendants in the case, John Boultbee and Lord Black's private holding company Toronto-based Ravelston Corp. Ltd., were also arraigned yesterday on the superseding indictment, although nearly all of the new charges are only against Lord Black. (Lord Black controlled Hollinger through Ravelston, which is in receivership.) Other defendants, Mark Kipnis and Peter Atkinson, will be arraigned later. They have all pleaded not guilty to the earlier charges. David Radler, Lord Black's former right hand man, has pleaded guilty to one fraud charge and is co-operating with prosecutors.
Mr. Boultbee nearly found himself in violation of his bail yesterday. He was supposed to put up $1.5-million as part of his bail conditions, but when the money was transferred to the U.S. Attorney's office from Canada, the bank withheld $12. Mr. Boultbee's lawyers were told about the shortfall by the U.S. Attorney's office shortly before yesterday's arraignment. As Judge St. Eve was about to take her seat, Mr. Boultbee dug into his pocket, pulled out the cash and handed it to his lawyer, thus avoiding possible imprisonment.
© The Globe and Mail
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