John Gress/ReutersConrad Black and his wife Barbara Amiel leave federal court in Chicago, June 24, 2011Sarah Boesveld Jul 1, 2011 – 10:59 AM ET | Last Updated: Jul 1, 2011 5:07 PM ET Less than a week after a U.S. court ordered Conrad Black back to jail, the former media baron learned prosecutors will return the millions of dollars they had been withholding from him for almost six years — plus interest.
Late Thursday, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois said Lord Black will get back his $5.5 million, money prosecutors had confiscated in October of 2005. Those funds came directly from the sale of his New York City apartment, the FBI having taking the $8.5 million (US) earned there even before the deal closed.
This was also just before Lord Black and three other former executives of Hollinger International, a Chicago-based newspaper company, were charged and, two years later, convicted of fraud related to the misappropriation of money from the business. Lord Black was also charged with obstruction of justice based on video footage showing him moving boxes out of a Hollinger office. At the time of the convictions, Judge Amy St. Eve ordered the men return the $6.1 million she deemed stolen from Hollinger shareholders.
The Chicago court has already returned $2.4 million to Lord Black from the sale of his apartment, but kept the rest to cover the forfeiture order. A U.S. appeal court overturned two fraud charges and reduced the amount taken down to $600,000. This is why Lord Black gets his money back, said Randall Samborn from the Northern Illinois attorney’s office.
In an e-mail to the National Post, Lord Black said the interest on the $5.5 million is currently being calculated. “I have no comment on any of this until the money actually appears, though the award referred to is welcome,” he wrote. “The original charge on the basis of which the money was seized was part of a plan to prevent me paying the retainer of my counsel of choice in 2005, and was so spurious it was never meant by the prosecutors to be taken seriously other than as a harassment. It was thrown out by the jury in 2007, so the wheels of justice have not been turning with excessive speed. The trajectory is gratifying, but I only count the money that is in hand, and not merely in prospect.”
Less than a week ago, Lord Black was resentenced to 42 months in prison less the 29 he has already served from his last sentence of 78 months. The outcome came as a shock to his legal team, spurring his wife Barbara Amiel Black to faint when the verdict came down. He was given six weeks to get his affairs in order — including renewing his British passport — and will serve up to 13 months in prison. He will serve less time if he exhibits good behaviour.
The dramatic hearing drew from glowing letters written by Lord Black’s fellow inmates at Coleman Federal Correctional facility in Florida and involved a lengthy submission about the injustices of the case from Lord Black himself. Even still, Judge St. Eve ordered the former media magnate back to prison.
“You are a different person today having spent 29 months in jail,” she said as she laid down her verdict . “I still scratch my head as to why you engaged in this conduct. Good luck to you.”
Posted in: Canada, Canada, News, Posted, U.S., World Tags: $5.5 million, Conrad Black, Conrad Black Trial, Fraud, Hollinger International, Prison, prosecutors
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