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Conrad Black sentenced

11/12/2007

Former media mogul Conrad Black has been jailed for six-and-a half years after being convicted of defrauding shareholders of millions of dollars.

Black, whose sentence was handed down by a US court, was ordered to report to prison in 12 weeks time.

The 63-year-old former Daily Telegraph owner was also instructed to pay a fine of $125,000 (£61,000) and to forfeit $6.1 million (£3 million) – the amount a pre-sentencing report estimated the tycoon had stolen from shareholders of his former newspaper publishing empire Hollinger International.

Prosecutors had claimed the British peer and several former business associates had swindled $3.5 million (£1.7 million) from investors in Hollinger, of which Black was once chairman.

He and his past colleagues were found to have paid themselves tax-free bonuses from the sale of newspaper assets without the approval of Hollinger's board.

Black was convicted on three counts of fraud after his trial in July. He was also found guilty of obstructing justice, having been recorded on tape removing documents from his office in Toronto, Canada after US regulators informed him he was under investigation.

Passing sentence on him at a Chicago court yesterday, judge Amy St Eve told Canadian-born Black: "Frankly I cannot understand how someone of your stature, on top of a media empire, could commit such acts."

The jail sentence imposed on Black was at the lower end of guidelines outlined by the judge and significantly less than the prison term of more than 20 years prosecutors had sought.

However Black has continued to protest his innocence and his lawyers have indicated they intend to apply for a court order to allow their client to remain free until his appeal against the charges has been heard.