KEY POINTS:
Conrad Black, the former newspaper tycoon whose ownership of The Daily Telegraph won him the keys to the British establishment and a seat in the House of Lords, is facing 20 years in jail in the US after being convicted as a fraudster.
Lord Black of Crossharbour remained
stone-faced as the unanimous verdicts were read: guilty on three counts of defrauding outside shareholders in his newspaper company, and one of obstructing justice.
His wife, the columnist Barbara Amiel, rushed to his side after the result, and huddled with her husband while members of Black's legal team shielded the couple from journalists who have followed all the salacious details in the trial of a man who was once one of the most feared media bosses in the UK and North America.
The 62-year-old, born in Canada, has belligerently protested his innocence since being charged in 2005, and listened impassively through almost four months of testimony in a Chicago courthouse where prosecutors explained how the lavish lifestyle he enjoyed with Lady Black was funded through bogus business deals.
He had predicted a complete acquittal that would allow him to rebuild his media empire and launch a blizzard of libel actions against shareholders, independent board members and critical biographers who challenged how he used the company, Hollinger International, as a personal piggy bank.
Instead, his reputation now lies in tatters.
Lawyers for the prosecution and his co-defendants were left waiting in the hushed courtroom as Black arrived 10 minutes late for the verdict.
Black, with his wife and his daughter from his first marriage, Alana, has been staying far from the courthouse in Chicago's most luxurious hotel, the Ritz-Carlton.
The jury returned their verdict early on their 12th day of deliberation, after indicating earlier that they were having trouble reaching unanimity.
In the end, they acquitted Black of a greater number of charges than those on which they found him guilty.
The charges on which he has been convicted carry a maximum penalty that adds up to 35 years' jail, and the prosecution signalled that they thought a realistic - if not conservative - sentence would be of 15 to 20 years.
The defence, which will appeal, fought a prosecution motion to have Black's bail revoked.
The issue will be decided on Thursday.
Last night he remained free on his US$21m ($27 million) bail.
Eric Sussman, for the prosecution, characterised Black as a man who has repeatedly thumbed his nose at the US justice system, and who could use assets transferred to his wife to fund a flight from US justice.
"Literally millions of dollars is moving between them," Mr Sussman said.
The jury of nine women and three men decided that he and a cabal of favoured executives had conspired to steal $3.5m, which they skimmed from the proceeds of the sale of newspapers owned by their company, Hollinger International.
At issue were so-called "non-compete" payments to Black and three other men - David Radler, his business partner of 36 years, who pleaded guilty to fraud in 2005 and agreed to testify for the prosecution, plus Jack Boultbee and Peter Atkinson, Hollinger International executives.
Boultbee and Atkinson were convicted yesterday on fraud charges carrying a maximum penalty of 15 years, as was a Hollinger lawyer, Mark Kipnis, who helped them cover up the fraud.
Non-compete payments are common in the newspaper industry, since they compensate executives for their promise not to set up rival publications to those they have just sold.
Black, however, alighted on them as a way of inflating his pay and shielding it from tax, inserting them into deals when they were not requested and burying the information so it was not spotted.
Eventually, he and Radler were in 2000 engineering more and more outrageous schemes.
The jury decided that in other cases, though, earlier and bigger non-compete payments were not criminally fraudulent.
Black was also cleared of perpetrating a fraud when he put a $60,000 birthday party for Lady Black on Hollinger's expenses and used the company jet for a personal holiday to the South Pacific.
The jury also acquitted him of racketeering and acting improperly over the purchase of a New York apartment from Hollinger.
Black left court with his wife and daughter, saying nothing and using a decoy car to try to evade the awaiting media.
Edward Greenspan, Black's lawyer, who has reputedly been paid more than $3m, said that there would be an appeal and that they disagreed with the government's claim that Black should serve 15 to 20 years.
"Conrad Black was acquitted of all the central charges," he said.
Black had previously accused prosecutors of being "Nazis", while his lawyers argued in court that the government's case appealed to jurors' class prejudice.
The slights were dismissed by Patrick FitzGerald, the US attorney for Chicago.
He said dishonest company directors would "think twice" as a result of the verdict.
"If you are going to take liberties with other people's money, there are going to be consequences."
- INDEPENDENT
