The rise and fall of Conrad Black

Conrad Black has been sentenced to six and a half years in prison
  
  


Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol's portrait of Conrad Black sells for $240,000 in New York in an auction in November 2007 Photograph: Andy Warhol/Christies
conrad black
Plain Conrad Black in 1992, the year he married his second wife, journalist Barbara Amiel. He later renounced his Canadian citizenship and became a Conservativer peer, Lord Black of Crossharbour. Photograph: Graham Turner/Guardian
Conrad Black
Black's Hollinger International bought the Daily and Sunday Telegraph newspapers, a move which made him one of Britain's most powerful media moguls. The Telegraph papers have recently moved away from the financial centre of Canary Wharf to new offices in Victoria. Photograph: Linda Nylind/Guardian
Conrad Black
Black and his wife were regulars on the London society party scene. Here they arrive at a fancy dress bash at Kensington Palace in 2000 dressed as Cardinal Richelieu and Marie Antoinette. Photograph: Tim Graham/Getty
Conrad Black
Black also owned right-of-centre political magazine the Spectator. Here the couple are pictured at the magazine's 175th birthday party. Photograph: Edmond Terakopian/PA
Conrad Black
Black resigned from Hollinger in 2004 after the SEC charged the company with falsifying documents and making illicit payments to executives. A special committee of Hollinger directors concluded that Black had been looting millions. Photograph: Diane Bondareff/AP
Conrad Black
Black was indicted and arraigned at the end of 2005. The case against Black revolved around a series of phoney 'non-compete' agreements attached to the sale of newspapers in America and Canada. According to the US government, he and his colleagues used these little-noticed clauses to skim as much as $60m from Hollinger. Photograph: Richard A Chapman/AP
Conrad Black
The trial was set for early 2007 in Chicago. The prosecution team was named as (left to right) Edward Siskel, Julie Ruder, Jeffrey Cramer and Eric Sussman. Photograph: AFP/Getty
Conrad Black
The trial at Dirksen Federal Courthouse was presided over by judge Amy St Eve. A legal prodigy on the federal bench, she won praise from all sides for managing the trial with crisp, informal efficiency. Photograph: Verna Sadock/EPA
Conrad Black
The trial began in March 2007. Black and his family (wife Barbara, centre, and daughter Alana, right) stayed in Chicago's swanky Ritz-Carlton hotel. Photograph: Scott Olson/Getty
Barbara Amiel
Black insisted his wife's birthday party in 2000, for which he billed Hollinger more than $42,000, was a 'business event'. But an examination of the seating plan revealed that he had chosen to eat with the Dame Edna Everage comedian Barry Humphries and a clutch of society wives, leaving business associate Donald Trump on the other side of the room. Photograph: Charles Rex Arbogast/AP
Bora Bora
As for his $570,000 trip on Hollinger's corporate jet to Bora Bora, Black maintained that directors felt his support for Israel meant he was at risk from terrorists on commercial aircraft. 'Utter nonsense,' testified the company's big-name non-executives. Nevertheless, the jury concluded that such perks, however unethical, were not illegal. Photograph: PR
Conrad Black
May 2005: A security camera catches Black removing 20 boxes of documents from his Toronto office late on a Friday evening, prompting allegations of obstruction of justice. Photograph: Public domain
Conrad Black
The footage also showed Black handing boxes to his chauffeur, John Hillier, who loaded them into a waiting car. Photograph: Public domain
David Radler
The scales of justice truly swung against Black when his erstwhile friend and close associate, David Radler, took the stand. Radler, who has pleaded guilty in exchange for a 20-month prison sentence, gave an assured performance, admitting his own complicity but pointing to Black as the fraud's mastermind. He stuck rigidly to his account despite provocation from Black's defence lawyers. Photograph: Tom Hanson/AP
Conrad Black
As the pressure grew, the disgraced media mogul began to show the strain. As he arrived in court for the jury's 'deadlocked' note on July 10, the noble peer delivered a one-finger salute to various Canadian cameramen. Photograph: Dave Chidley/AP
Conrad Black
The same day, Black was pictured not wearing any socks - a detail duly noted as dubious proof that he must have hurried from his quarters at the Ritz-Carlton in a frenzy of fearful absent-mindedness. Toronto's Globe and Mail screamed 'sockless in Chicago' and called on a series of style gurus for analysis. Photograph: Tasos Katopodis/Getty
Conrad Black
On Friday July 13, after more than 70 hours of deliberation, the jury delivered verdicts of guilty on three charges of fraud and one charge of obstructing justice - although the former Telegraph owner was cleared of a further nine charges, including tax evasion and racketeering. Here he walks with wife Barbara after hearing the news. Photograph: M Spencer Green/AP
Conrad Black
Black's attorneys Edward Greenspan (centre) and Ed Genson (left) speak to the media. They said Black would appeal against the convictions. Photograph: M Spencer Green/AP
Conrad Black
Prosecutors are pressing for a sentence of 15 to 20 years, although lawyers suggested it would more likely be closer to five years. He is due to be sentenced in November. Photograph: M Spencer Green/AP
Conrad Black on way to jail
Conrad Black got his last glimpse of day-to-day freedom as he sped across the Florida countryside to begin a new life as federal prisoner 18330-424 (Read the article) Photograph: Adrian Wyld/AP
 

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