Black found guilty of criminal fraud
Fri Jul 13,CHICAGO (Reuters) - A U.S. jury on Friday found Conrad Black guilty of criminal fraud and obstruction of justice in a grim Friday the 13th verdict that could send the former media baron to jail for up to 35 years.

 Rodney Adler  -  Sunday, 17 April  2005

http://www.abc.net.au/sundayprofile/stories/s1345088.htm

This week on ABC's Sunday Profile, jailed businessman Rodney Adler talks about the impact of the HIH collapse on him, his family and his business ventures and what he expects from prison life.

Download as MP3 format

Listen in Windows Media format

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"..this last four and a half years has cost me just shy of seven and a half million dollars."..."

Adler could be free in two-and-a-half years. (ABC TV)

Transcript

Flash Back into Austrlian corporate history provided by the research team at the USAWeeklyNews.com

This week on ABC's Sunday Profile, jailed businessman Rodney Adler talks about the impact of the HIH collapse on him, his family and his business ventures and what he expects from prison life.

Download as MP3 format

Listen in Windows Media format

Listen in Real Media format

FOR THE FULL TRANSCRIPT OF MONICA ATTARD'S INTERVIEW AND MORE GREAT STORIES FROM Australia's ABC Televsion and Radio Click Here

"..this last four and a half years has cost me just shy of seven and a half million dollars."..."

Adler could be free in two-and-a-half years. (ABC TV)

Comment from on the www.USAWeeklyNews.com readers-
Bill Sanderson of Coffs Harbour writes:
" What ever opinion one might have about Rodney Adler and the wrongs and rights of why he was charged, found guilty, went to prison and had a complete fall from grace, as many other entrepeneurs have over the years, the one thing different about Rodney Adler was that he was virtually one of the few real venture capitalists in Australia, who was prepared to put his money where his mouth was, and financially back

                                 "a real Aussie having a go",

that he felt had the drive, passon and sensible business idea. that in Rodney Adler;
and his team of number crunches (helping him decide what was likely to be a good deal or a bad deal)view, 
was worth backing.

ATLANTA (Reuters) - U.S. authorities should halt the execution next Tuesday of a man for killing an off-duty police officer in 1989 because of growing indications he might not be guilty, campaigners said on Friday.

GreenFriends.com -

the best vegetarian dating site!
Hi there....welcome to
YahooRealEstate.com.au
Yahoo!!!!!!!

More of this months and last months global news
1.    www.usaweeklynews.net
2.    www.yahoofreenews.us3.  www.yahoofreenews.info
4.    www.usaweeklynews.info
5.    www.yahooweeklynews.org
6.    www.yahoosearchnews.org
7.    www.yahoosearchnews.org
8.    www.yahooglobalnews.org
9    www.yahoglobalnews.net
10.    www.yahoofreenews.ws
11.  www.yahoofreenews.org
12.  www.yahoobestnews.org
13.  www.inlnews.ws
14.  www.usaweekendnews.com
15.   www.gotyanews.net
16.  www.blackswanonline.info
17.  www.annanicolesmithworld.com
18.  www.bigsisteronline.com
19.  www.heathermillsmccartney.us
20.  www.internationalnewslimited.com
21.  www.youtubeworld.us
22.  www.saddamhusseinworld.com

Old News from INLNews.com transferred to
www.yahoofreenews.us

Here they come

The Beckhams in LA

Video, pictures and analysis of David and Victoria as they arrive in the US

THE TIMES TODAY

Today

• Bin Laden appears in new web video
• Viagra nation
• Carlos the Jackal sneers at Al-Qaeda’s...
• Aston V8 Vantage Roadster

         Timeline: rise and fall of Lord Black

Conrad Black, his wife Barbara Amiel and daughter Alana

1944 Black born to affluent Canadian family

1959 Expelled from prestigious Upper Canada College for selling exam papers

1965 Gains history BA

1971 Profitably sells the Sherbrooke Record newspaper in Quebec, a money-losing publication bought in 1969, and buys more titles

1978 At just 33, Black acquires control of Canada's largest and best known conglomerate, Argus Corp Ltd, and further invests in newspapers

1985 Acquires Daily Telegraph

1990 Following earlier out-of-court victories, Penguin destroys 6,200 copies of a book criticising Black after he begins libel proceedings

1992 Marries second wife Barbara Amiel, a columnist at The Times

1996 Black's media empire peaks as world's largest print-only operation. Over 500 publications worldwide include Israel's Jerusalem Post, the Chicago Sun-Times and 59 of Canada’s 105 dailies

1998 Black launches Canada's National Post. Fails to become major daily despite CA$200m (£94m) spending over nine years

2000 Increasingly indebted, Black sells a number of Canadian newspapers

2001 Renounces Canadian citizenship to join Britain's House of Lords on Margaret Thatcher’s nomination

2003 Investment firm Tweedy Browne Co writes to HI, Black's holding company, and the US regulator, alleging excessive payments to Black. Black resigns after an HI committee reports that the company made US$32.15m (£15.1m) of irregular payments

2004 Amiel loses Telegraph column; paper acquired by Barclay brothers. US regulator report says Black ran 'corporate kleptocracy'

2005 Black indicted for fraud. Former employee David Radler pleads guilty, offers to testify for prosecution

March 14, 2007 Trial begins in Chicago. Black and 3 co-defendants charged with diverting $60 million in funds

20 March Prosecution compares Black to a bank robber in a tie

31 March-1 April, 2007 During trial break, Black attends literary party in Canada despite travel restrictions

May 24, 2007 Jury told that Black secretly enlisted Donald Trump to speak in his favour at shareholder meeting

June 27 Jury begins considering verdict

July 13 Jury finds Black guilty of four of 13 charges

Source: Times archive

Conrad Black, pictured as owner of the Daily Telegraph on June 1, 1992: the tycoon's newspaper empire was at one stage the biggest in the world (Mark Ellidge/The Sunday Times)

Canadian Governor General Romeo LeBlanc (l) and Black (r) await the arrival of the Queen for a ceremony marking the consecration of new Colours on the Regiment in Ottawa, Canada, on July 3, 1997 (Peter Jones/Reuters)

The Blacks at their house in Palm Beach, Florida. Black funded a lavish lifestyle, but the jury found him not guilty of anything illegal over company perks

Black leaves the US District Courthouse in Chicago on June 27, as the jury started deliberations in his fraud trial (AFP/Jeff Haynes)

Lord Black breaks a habit and stays silent in defence

James Bone in Chicago

Lord Black of Crossharbour plans to stay silent as his lawyers present an unexpectedly brief defence at his fraud trial.

Edward Genson, the former press baron’s lawyer, told the judge that he would take just two half-days to rebut 11 weeks of prosecution evidence, which concluded yesterday.

In the first public indication that the normally loquacious Lord Black does not plan to testify, Mr Genson said that he had no witness for today and would conclude on Monday.

Lord Black’s apparent decision not to testify suggests that his lawyers believe they have already poked enough holes in the prosecution’s case to win an acquittal. But they may also be wary of subjecting Lord Black to cross-examination about the millions of dollars he and other senior Hollinger executives received in “non-compete” payments.

Lord Black will rely instead on favourable testimony from Joan Maida, his long-time personal assistant, and Ken Whyte, the former editor of the National Post in Canada, which Lord Black set up.

Ms Maida also served on the board of the Black Family Foundation and ordered 150 “Conrad will win!” T-shirts for her boss before the trial.

Mr Whyte, now the editor of Maclean’s magazine in Canada, was first hired by Lord Black to be editor of Saturday Night magazine in the mid-1990s. He is a personal friend of the former Telegraph chairman and employs Barbara Amiel, Lord Black’s wife, as a columnist on Maclean’s.

Lord Black, 62, could spend the rest of his life behind bars and face heavy fines if convicted of looting $60 million from the Hollinger International newspaper empire.

Prosecutors yesterday dropped one of the 14 charges which related to alleged money laundering. Lord Black’s lawyers said they planned to request that the remaining charges be dismissed.

The prosecution sought to end on a flourish yesterday by producing bank statements showing Lord Black’s lavish spending on jewellery and fashion for his wife.

Within days of receiving $8.4 million and $4.3 million payments into the account, Lord Black spent $2.62 million at Graff Diamonds, $80,067 at Balmain, $71,097 at Gaultier, $116,117 at Yves Saint Laurent, and $101,550 at Fendi.

Among the final prosecution witnesses was a New York property expert who told the court that Lord Black was given a $5.5 million discount when he bought a corporate flat on Manhattan’s Upper East Side from the company.

Jonathan Miller said that the flat, which was in Park Avenue, was worth far more than the $3 million Lord Black paid. Lord Black said that he spent $2 million to renovate it.

Mr Miller told the court: “It’s so far beyond where the market level is that it wouldn’t matter if it was renovated or unrenovated — a $3 million price point isn’t realistic.”

Hollinger International paid $3 million for the flat in 1994 for Lord Black to use when in New York — about 60 days a year. Lord Black bought it from the company six years later for the same price. Mr Miller said that it was worth $8.5 million.

On Tuesday night, prosecutors showed jurors CCTV footage of Lord Black carrying 13 boxes of documents out of his office on May 20, 2005.

Shahab Mahmood, a security guard, told the court: “I saw Conrad Black giving some boxes to his chauffeur, who loaded the boxes. It was unusual. I never saw Conrad Black carrying boxes.” Monique Delorme, the comptroller of Hollinger Inc, said that she had stopped staff removing the same boxes earlier in the day.

The trial continues

The face: Black Narcissus

BARBARA AMIEL

If Barbara Amiel did call a journalist a slut the other day, it must be because she is under strain. She is appearing daily in court at the trial of her husband, Lord Black of Crossharbour, who faces many years in prison if found guilty. He is accused of using company money to fund an extravagant personal lifestyle to which his wife made heroic contributions.

We could indulge in a little list now, and maybe another at the end if we can fit it in: two private jets, a $295,000 (£150,000) holiday in French Polynesia, a $2,463 handbag, exercise equipment at $2,083, opera tickets for $2,785 and a “birthday party for Barbara” at La Grenouille restaurant in New York costing $42,870. “My extravagance knows no bounds,” she famously said.

Conrad Black is Amiel’s fourth husband, but the one she has stuck with. “Both shared a need to be respected, accepted and admired in the spotlight,” wrote Tom Bower in his biography of the couple. Amiel’s apparently insatiable need for possessions and conquest is put down to a shaky start in which her parents separated, her mother uprooted the family to Canada, her father committed suicide and she left home at 14 to lodge in a part-time brothel.

She worked hard, attended Toronto University and thence to a glittering career in journalism, exceeded only by a parallel career as a kind of latterday courtesan in which she used sex appeal as a form of direct action. “If she sits next to someone at dinner and she decides she wants to please, there’s no one more brilliant than her,” an admirer observed. “She fixes those great green eyes on you and the rest is history. It is an amazing performance.”

After a period as the first female editor of the Toronto Sun , where she was once spotted striding through the office in an open trenchcoat revealing a black bustier, garter belt and fishnet stockings, Amiel moved to England as a columnist for The Times and The Sunday Times purveying her trenchantly pro-Israel, pro-American, Eurosceptic views and her belief that homosexuality was an abomination. She then moved to The Telegraph group, owned by her future husband.

They were married in 1992 and embarked on a lifestyle whose lavishness implied unlimited wealth. But there were those who suspected differently. “Only a few hundred women in the world can afford to dress like Mrs Black, and Mrs Black may not be among them,” a Canadian journalist observed. The couple employed 17 staff in various homes all of whom had to hide in cupboards or behind doors at Amiel’s approach because she hated seeing any of them.

Amiel, 67, has retained her youthful figure and looks with a regime of medicine, drugs and surgery, but fears time’s winged chariot. “He will leave me,” she told a friend once. “I’m making plans for when it all goes wrong.”

Celebrity

Phil Spector: A life in wigs

Slide Show

Celebrity

Saucy, strange or sad? The 2007 Big Brother contestants

The former Telegraph chairman Conrad Black was convicted of fraud and obstruction of justice after a four-month trial

What now for the dutiful wife Barbara Amiel?

Black’s conviction and the prospect of a lengthy jail term renews speculation over the future of the Blacks’ marriage

From swaggering tycoon to uncommon criminal

Famed for his extravagance and haughty manner, Black will now have to forgo his exotic lifestyle and prepare for prison

The prosecution's case

The trial gave a glimpse into the lavish lifestyle of a press baron

The fallen Lord

Profile: The fallen media baron

Lord Black of Crossharbour once controlled a majority of the newspapers in Canada: he now faces a lengthy jail sentence

Timeline: rise and fall of Lord Black

Timeline of the career of Lord Black of Crossharbour, the tycoon who was once one of the world's biggest newspaper moguls

Conrad the Barbarian

Tom Bower reveals the childhood traumas behind the excesses of Conrad Black, the former press baron facing a multi-million fraud trial and prison

The Trial

Black ‘ran up £3.5m private jet bill’

The former press baron routinely billed the company when he travelled on the jet to Florida, a government witness testified

Black asked Trump to sing his praises

A court hears Lord Black secretly enlisted Donald Trump to speak up on his behalf at a heated shareholders meeting

Aide 'told to skim $12m from deals’

Lifelong friend of Conrad Black gave evidence directly linking the former press baron to unauthorised payments

E-mail sheds light on Black's trip

Prosecutors introduced an e-mail into evidence to show that the South Pacific trip was not a legitimate company expense

The Black family

Daughter steals show in Black’s trial

The 24-year-old Canadian daughter of Lord Black of Crossharbour turned up in what may prove to be a valuable supporting role

Amiel accused over $10.5m flat sale

The wife of Lord Black allegedly jeopardised the resale of his New York apartment by stripping it even of the chandeliers

The face: Black Narcissus

If Barbara Amiel did call a journalist a slut the other day, it must be because she is under strain

ATLANTA (Reuters) - U.S. authorities should halt the execution next Tuesday of a man for killing an off-duty police officer in 1989 because of growing indications he might not be guilty, campaigners said on Friday.

A seventy year old Australian Venture Capital Company Chapmans Limited (ASX code-CHP)
which has been listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) since about 1970 announces purchase of 10% of
COMMUNITY FINANCIAL SERVICES GROUP PTY LTD
trading as Smart Ventures
The Australian Stock Market reacted positively to the news by pushing Chapmans shares up by 60% over a two day heavy trading session

Smart Ventures are not the only company interested in Chapmans Limited. International News Limited based in the USA, is apparently looking at a take over bid for Chapmans to use to head their expansion into the Australian media market with a hard copy Australia wide weekend newspaper called the Australian Weekend News and online real estate and business sales web sites in Australian and New Zealand called           www.yahoorealestate.com.au and
                      www.yahoorealestate.co.nz 
to take on   www.realestate.com.au

which is said in the industry to be worth a few billion dollars, because of the very profitable advertising revenue it earns each year from real estate and business for sale advertising. Both groups are keen to take over Chapmans for a number of reasons, which includes the fact that, as Chapmans has been listed on the Australian Stock Exchange since about 1970, it will be easy to have the company listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM), which is effectively the second board of the London Stock Exchange. This move will open up the opportunity and interest for European, United Kingdom and USA investors and large superanuation, insurance and mutual funds to invest in Chapmans Limited, which now has interests in a diverse range of industries listed in the Smart Ventures portfolio, and the interesting investments Chapmans have already made in mobile phone accessories, mining, real estate and an Irish based new roofing system called New-Lock , as well as the media.
Brett Goldsworthy the CEO of Smart Ventures seems excited about what appears to be effectively a merger of two venture capital type companies.
Another USA based media company called the USA Weekly News Limited has just last week purchased 10% of the issued shares in Chapmans Limited, and is making noises of purchasing another 9%, which will bring their shareholding just under the 20% mark. It is understood negotiations are going on at present with some of the of the other large shareholders of Chapmans to purchase these extra 9% off market, so that the share price on the market will not increase too much in case they want to make a formal take over bid in the near future.
If the USA Weekly News Limited purchases 20% or more of the stock it will be forced to make a take over bid for Chapmans. From investigations done by INL, this is also on the cards.
Watch this space for further developments.
It is INL's understanding that on the 26th of April 2007 the general manager of Chapmans, Dan Lansky with the managing director of Chapmans Borris Ganke, brokered and signed the deal for Chapmans to buy 10% of Brett Goldswothy's, Smart Ventures which describes itself on Smart Venture's web site www.smartventures.com.au the following way

Objective
To accelerate small market cap companies into the global market place by providing innovative solutions and services to growing companies in the small to medium cap sector, worldwide.

History
 Smart Ventures was founded in 2004 to provide innovative banking solutions to specific market verticals. Since that time the group has focused on market verticals in various countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, China, India, Peru, and the United States. Based out of Australia with regional offices in each location the team at Smart Ventures is able to provide personal service needed by many small to medium cap companies.

Management Team
Public Company experience Senior technical and commercial management experience New business development and branding experience Track record in new venture creation Solid management skills Experience in developing new businesses/products Successful track record in delivering multi-million revenues Strong people management, negotiation skills and complex deal execution experience with blue-chip organizations Compliance and Training Investor relations Public Relations Media Briefing Legal Advice

Services
Investment Brokerage Mergers and acquisitions Corporate finance products Institutional introductions Foreign Exchange Private investment Financial management Financial systems
Public listing training Institutional Presentation training News flow program Daily Weekly Quarterly and Annual results Investor relations Shareholder relations Financial Public relations Commercial Market PR
Board development for International growth Advisory board development Executive Management USA Europe, Middle East and Africa PACRIM

Smart Ventures portfolio of investments

Media and IT
Global Media and Communications Businesses Global Integrated Blog Software and Technology Global Graphic Interface for Mobile and Gaming Industry Japan EAS and Security Systems Global Integrated Media and Technology Systems Japan Mobile Animation Japan 3G Mobile technology Japan

Gaming and Resorts
Pachinko Groups Japan Hotels Japan Machine Manufacture and Distribution Global Casino Operation Macau Resort Casino and SPA Peru Resort Fiji Resort Sapporo Japan

Health Beauty and Food Industries
Restaurant Group Japan & China Health and Beauty – SPA and Machinery Global Health and Beauty – SPA Japan Health and Beauty – H40 Water Global Dental Industry Consolidation Australia Dental Industry – Software Japan Hospital and Associated services Consolidation Japan Bio Tech – DNA Japan Sound and Energy Technology Global

Green Enery, Minerals and Alternative Technology
Pyrolysis Technology – Waste to Oil and Gas Global Nano and Wave Technology – Waste Oil to Oil and Ethanol Global Pyrolysis Technology – Medical and Hospital Application Global Alternative Energy Resource Group – Solar, Wind, and Thorium Energy Organic Waste Decomposition Units Global CO2 Emission Conversion Global

Emerging Markets
Industrial Park for Environment Science & Technology China Emerging Industries and Manufacturing China Emerging Industries for Environment, Science & Technology India

Stop Press:
The original of this artilce came from YahooSearchNews.com 
and appears to have been first published in January 2007
A major Investment Group who are taking over USA company,
USA Weekly News Limited,

the publisher of

www.usaweeklynews.com,

are getting ready to take over Chapmans Limited
 ( Austalian Stock Exchange Code is CHP),
a little known venture capital company that has been listed on the Australian Stock Exchange since about 1970.
The plan is to use Chapmans Limited to back door list
International News Limited,
which is expected to cause the market to value the 90 million issued shares in Chapmans at about $Aust5 a share.
   Once the take over is completed, CHAPMANS will be listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) on the London Stock Exchange, at which time, it is expected that Chapmans shares will trade around five UK Pounds a shares.
   This equates to about $Aust10 dollars a share.
   The future share price of Chapmans Limited is expected to be strengthened as the bidding takes hold by the fact that the top 20 shareholders control about 80% of the shares in the company, and very few of these large shareholders are keen to sell their shares under $5 a share, as they are well aware of the future of the company.
   In fact the managing director of Chapmans Limited, Borris Ganke, a well know veteran in the public company world, has at present an effective control of Chapmans through his personal shareholders and the shareholdering of another company he is managing director of, being Southern Cross Explorations Limited.
   Mr Ganke continues to resist any take over of the company and refuses to discuss the the sale of the 30% of the capital of Chapmans which he and Southern Cross Explorations control.
   Mr Ganke has made it clear that these shares are not for sale at any price and does not need the money as he owns a development property in Fiji which he estimates has a potential development profit of about $Aust500 milion. 
   It appears that Mr Ganke and his company Southern Cross Exporations Ltd, are there for the long term, to be involved with the move of Chapmans to the London Stock Exchange, where Mr Ganke is well known through previous companies he has been involved with on the London Stock Exchange.
   These previous companies have had capitalisations of around half a billion UK pounds on the London Stock Exchange.
  It is also understood that an oppositon camp of shareholders control about 30% of the share capital of Chapmans, and a smaller group control about 20% of Chapman's issued share capital.
   This only leaves about 20% of the issued share capital of Chapmans held by a lot a very small shareholders in small parcels from 10,000 to 200,000 shares.
   Very low key announcements have previously been made by the board of Chapmans about their aims to become involved in the media world, which have gone unnoticed by financial journalists in Australia.
   Mr Ganke is well known to be be a very conservative managing director who does not like to beat the drum too loundly until the ink is fully dry on final agreements.
   It is believed that representatives of AIM have already been over from London to approach Mr Ganke to request him to list Chapmans on AIM. 
  AIM is a part of the London Stock Exchange, which provides automatic listing to any Australian company that has been listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) for more than three years. Chapmans has been on the Australian Stoxk Exchange for about 30 years.
   It is believed that the plan includes asking shareholders to agree to allow Chapmans to change its 70 year old name name to International News Limited, which is at present registered in Australia and the USA, as the owner of valuable media newspaper mastheads and internet URLs estimated to be worth over one billion UK Pounds.

The INL News is proud to announce that  Patrick Obi has been promoted to World News Administration manager for INL News.
After spending many years working for various new oranisations throughout Africa, Patrick Obi will bring a wealth of experince and world news contracts to INL News.
The INL News Team gives you a very warm welcome to Patrick in his new role as World News Admin Manager.
Great to have you on board Patrick
From all the Staff at INL News

Black found guilty of criminal fraud
Fri Jul 13,CHICAGO (Reuters) - A U.S. jury on Friday found Conrad Black guilty of criminal fraud and obstruction of justice in a grim Friday the 13th verdict that could send the former media baron to jail for up to 35 years.

Conrad M. Black [was] Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Operating Officer of Hollinger International Inc.. He is a member of the Board of Directors for the Nixon Center.

He is known politically for his staunch criticism of the Liberal Party of Canada.

The issue of whether Black could accept a title in Britain was the most notable battle between Black and Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien - Canadian citizens cannot accept such titles without giving up citizenship and Chretien would not make exceptions. The National which had been launched by Black was not financially successful, and was sold to the CanWest chain then owned by Israel Asper.

Maude Barlow, the chair of the Council of Canadians [QUERY: still current?]is cited by Leiterman stating Black is known to "routinely intervene in editorial policy-making". [1]

Leiterman also cites Radler, Hollinger's president, as telling Maclean's (2/3/92): "If editors disagree with us they should disagree with us when they're no longer in our employ. The buck stops with ownership. I am responsible for meeting the payroll; therefore I will ultimately determine what the papers say and how they're going to be run." [2]

Hollinger also owns the Jerusalem Post. In September 2003 that newspaper advocated killing Yasser Arafat. This was quickly raised by the Israeli Cabinet, but described by Colin L. Powell, Condoleeza Rice as "unhelpful" and by The Economist as "wrong".

Israel has no law against foreign press ownership.

Black found guilty of criminal fraud
Fri Jul 13,CHICAGO (Reuters) - A U.S. jury on Friday found Conrad Black guilty of criminal fraud and obstruction of justice in a grim Friday the 13th verdict that could send the former media baron to jail for up to 35 years.

 FOR THE FULL TRANSCRIPT OF MONICA ATTARD'S INTERVIEW AND MORE GREAT STORIES FROM Australia's ABC Televsion and Radio Click Here

NYTimes  WashNs  AustStockEx  WorldMedia  JapanNs  AusNs  World VideoNs  WorldFinance  ChinaDaily  IndiaNs  USADaily  BBC  EuroNs  ABCAust  WANs  NZNews  QldNs  MelbAge  AdelaideNs  TasNews  ABCTas  DarwinNs USA MAIL  

 

 
Lord Black of Crossharbour
Conrad Black, the former press baron jailed for 15 years for fraud, makes the front pages of most papers. His rise and fall is summed up in the Independent ...

Black found guilty of criminal fraud
Fri Jul 13,CHICAGO (Reuters) - A U.S. jury on Friday found Conrad Black guilty of criminal fraud and obstruction of justice in a grim Friday the 13th verdict that could send the former media baron to jail for up to 35 years.

Conrad M. Black [was] Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Operating Officer of Hollinger International Inc.. He is a member of the Board of Directors for the Nixon Center.

He is known politically for his staunch criticism of the Liberal Party of Canada.

The issue of whether Black could accept a title in Britain was the most notable battle between Black and Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien - Canadian citizens cannot accept such titles without giving up citizenship and Chretien would not make exceptions. The National which had been launched by Black was not financially successful, and was sold to the CanWest chain then owned by Israel Asper.

Maude Barlow, the chair of the Council of Canadians [QUERY: still current?]is cited by Leiterman stating Black is known to "routinely intervene in editorial policy-making". [1]

Leiterman also cites Radler, Hollinger's president, as telling Maclean's (2/3/92): "If editors disagree with us they should disagree with us when they're no longer in our employ. The buck stops with ownership. I am responsible for meeting the payroll; therefore I will ultimately determine what the papers say and how they're going to be run." [2]

Hollinger also owns the Jerusalem Post. In September 2003 that newspaper advocated killing Yasser Arafat. This was quickly raised by the Israeli Cabinet, but described by Colin L. Powell, Condoleeza Rice as "unhelpful" and by The Economist as "wrong".

Israel has no law against foreign press ownership.

Nightmare begins for former media tycoon Conrad Black

Chicago Sun-Times July 14, 2007-BY MARY WISNIEWSKI STEVE WARMBIR AND ABDON PALLASCH Staff reporters In a brutal downfall, former media tycoonConrad Black will be moving from a Toronto ...

Focus on Conrad Black's downfall

BBC News July 14, 2007 - Conrad Black, the former press baron jailed for 15 years for fraud, makes the front pages of most papers. His rise and fall is summed up in the Independent ...

UPDATE: Former Enron Prosecutor -- For Conrad Black, Sentence

Editor & Publisher July 14, 2007 - By E&P Staff CHICAGO Disgraced newspaper mogul Conrad Black should prepare himself for a long, hard time in the US prison system -- effectively a life ...

Conrad Black profile: A ruthless tycoon

Telegraph.co.uk July 14, 2007 - By David Litterick Every day of his fraud trial, Conrad Black sauntered into the courtroom in Chicago with the disdainful air of a man who had seen it all ...

No comfort for Conrad Black

Telegraph.co.uk July 14, 2007 - By Joshua Rozenberg, Legal Editor Conrad Black can take no comfort from the fact that he was found not guilty on most of the charges he faced. ...

Conrad Black to appeal guilty verdicts

Reuters.uk July 14, 2007 - CHICAGO (Reuters) - A lawyer for former media mogul Conrad Black told a US court on Friday that Black plans to appeal the four guilty verdicts on charges ...

Charges in Conrad Black Case

Forbes July 14, 2007 - By AP 07.13.07, 4:30 PM ET _Count 1, Mail fraud: Relates to $2.9 million in noncompete agreements with American Publishing Corp., which was a subsidiary of ...

Profile: Conrad Black, media baron with taste for lavish lifestyle

Times Online July 14, 2007 - But Lord Black of Crossharbour has seen his empire and power unravel in the space of four years as he faced the racketeering, fraud and obstruction of ...

Conrad Black, Ex-Press Baron, Guilty of Fraud

The Ledger July 14, 2007 - Mr. Black, also known as Lord Black of Crossharbour, was found guilty of three counts of mail fraud and a single count of obstruction of justice by the ...

Former Cayman Free Press shareholder Conrad Black convicted of fraud

Caribbean Net News July 14, 2007 - He wielded power as a wealthy media owner and member of Britain's House of Lords as Lord Black of Crossharbour. He renounced his Canadian citizenship to ...

The downfall of Conrad Black

Toronto Star July 14, 2007 - His legendary smugness shattered by a jury of 12 ordinary Americans, Conrad Black gave them a venomous stare as their findings of guilt on four of the 13 ...

Jonathan Kay on Conrad Black: His crimes do not define him

National Post July 14, 2007 - A Chicago jury has found Conrad Black guilty on three counts of mail fraud and one count of obstruction of justice. The world-renowned media magnate and ...

Media tycoon Conrad Black convicted

Arizona Republic July 14, 2007 - AP CHICAGO - A federal jury convicted fallen media tycoonConrad Black and three of his former executives at Hollinger International Inc. on Friday of ...

Conrad Black May Be Sorry He Gave Up Cdn. Citizenship When Sentenced

CityNews July 14, 2007 - What happens now to Conrad Black? That appears to the million dollar - or more - question. Black was found guilty of four charges in a Chicago courtroom ...

Voices: Conrad Black guilty verdict 

Toronto Star July 13, 2007 - We asked you what you think of the Conrad Black verdict. Here's what you had to say. The rich and powerful need to know that they are not immune from ... 

Conrad Black found guilty of fraud

CNNMoney.com July 13, 2007 - By Katy Byron, CNN CHICAGO (CNN) -- A jury Friday found former media tycoonConrad Black guilty of mail fraud and obstruction of justice, determining that ...

Conrad Black convicted of fraud

Guardian Unlimited July 13, 2007 - Seen from this distance there cannot be any doubt that Lord Black of Crossharbour or, as he must be known in future, Lord Black of Doublecross, ...

Did the prosecution fail in Conrad Black trial?

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Flash Back into Austrlian corporate history provided by the research team at the USAWeeklyNews.com

Rodney Adler - Sunday, 17 April  2005 

This week on ABC's Sunday Profile, jailed businessman Rodney Adler talks about the impact of the HIH collapse on him, his family and his business ventures and what he expects from prison life.

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FOR THE FULL TRANSCRIPT OF MONICA ATTARD'S INTERVIEW AND MORE GREAT STORIES FROM Australia's ABC Televsion and Radio Click Here

Flash Back into Austrlian corporate history provided by the research team at the USAWeeklyNews.com

This week on ABC's Sunday Profile, jailed businessman Rodney Adler talks about the impact of the HIH collapse on him, his family and his business ventures and what he expects from prison life.

Download as MP3 format

Listen in Windows Media format

Listen in Real Media format

FOR THE FULL TRANSCRIPT OF MONICA ATTARD'S INTERVIEW AND MORE GREAT STORIES FROM Australia's ABC Televsion and Radio Click Here

"..this last four and a half years has cost me just shy of seven and a half million dollars."..."

Adler could be free in two-and-a-half years. (ABC TV)

Comment from on the www.USAWeeklyNews.com readers-
Bill Sanderson of Coffs Harbour writes:
" What ever opinion one might have about Rodney Adler and the wrongs and rights of why he was charged, found guilty, went to prison and had a complete fall from grace, as many other entrepeneurs have over the years, the one thing different about Rodney Adler was that he was virtually one of the few real venture capitalists in Australia, who was prepared to put his money where his mouth was, and financially back

                                 "a real Aussie having a go",

that he felt had the drive, passon and sensible business idea. that in Rodney Adler;
and his team of number crunches (helping him decide what was likely to be a good deal or a bad deal)view, 
was worth backing.
The financial growth and sucess of Australia in its short 200 year histiory, has been has inreality been based on the little guy having a go, who started with a small business and build it up to a big one.
In the old days. there were real bank managers, making real decisions for the average person who had a sensible business idea, without having to have the loan finally approved by head office, on real kitchen tables. This is not the case anymore. 
Without people like Rodney Adler in business in Australia, being prepared to replace the old fashion bank manager, who has been turned into an office clerk who simply has not power to make a decision to lend someone $5, let alone $5,000. $50,000, $100,000 or $1 million,
who can use hos own personal judgement  to support the "Little Aussie Battler who wants to have a Go"
Since Rodney Adler has gone to prison, there does not seem to be any of the large successful entrepeneurs with not just millions, but billions behind them in profit they have made from the Australian people over the years,
who is prepared to replace Rodney Adler, in his previous role as a broad minded venture capitalist, who was very approachable with any business idea.

If Rodney Adler thought the idea had enough merit, and the person was dedicated and passionate enough about making it work, Rodney Adler was there to give it a go.
Rodney Adler knew not every deal was going to make money, but as long as enough did, he would have his capital returned, and a profit overal in the long term would be made.  The deal that he backed whiuch failed, the money that was spend in trying to get them up and running, was spent in the Australian Ecomony on wages and marerials, which created healthy financial activility for the ecomomy as well.
The other interesting factor to note in the arrest and conviction of Rodney Adler, that his charges in reality only come about as a result of the HIH multi billion collapse. If HIH had not lost billions of the average Australians money, which most of us agree was an enourmous blot on Australia's financial history. the relatively small deals that Rodney Adler was actually charged over, would not had been likely to eventuate.
 The facts are clear and undisputed, that Rodney Adler was very new in HIH when it collapsed, and is terms of normal lodgic could not have been anything to to with the long term problems that were already been set in place in HIH, when Rodney Addler starting doing business deals with HIH and became a board member of HIH. Thus I do not think that the important questions has been asked and/or answered. That is.
If the business tranactions that Rodney Adler was involved with concerning HIH which were the basis of the charges he was found guilty of and went to prison for, did not occur, would have HIH collapsed anyway, and further did Rodney Addler have any idea that when he joined the board of HIH, 
(which in most Australians and most likely in Rodney Adlers eyes also, had been the biggest land mark and most respected insurance and finanancial instrituion in Australia for a long time),
that HIH would collapse in the way it did, losing billions of the Australian's money?
In attempting to answer these important questions one would have to say that Rodney Adler was a very smart businesman who was also a risk taker. However, would a smart businessman like Rodney Adler every think of joining a board of a compamy that he knew was on its last legs and just about to collapse in the catestropic way HIH did?
It is common in business circles throughout the world, that financially sucessful business people usually find less successful people who have very little to lose. to jump onto company boards to replace themselves when they know that a compamy is about to collapse, so the more financially sucessful person is out of the firing line and the public spot light when the company goes down. With Rodney Adler's wide contacts and business experience and knowledge, he could have found thousands of people to go on the board of HIH instead of him, to front up if he was thinking he was going to do a few questionable deals with HIH before HIH collapses in a heap.  Why did he not do this, instead of putting himself in the obvious firing line and in a position where the Australian public is going to look for his head to be put in the stocks as being blamed for HIH losing billions?
To me the obvious answer is that Rodney Adler did not have any idea that HIH was going to collapse in the way it did.  It seems more logical that Rodney Adler was thinking he could sell off his much smaller family bsiness where he had to take all the risks from day to day himself, and end up working for the biggest and most respected insurance company in Australia, where he had a secure job and a lot more of prestige and the cash in the bank from the sale of his family insurance business, where the day to day risks were very high for an individual to maintain in the votitile modern world insurance. Many small businessmen a re keen th do them same, build uo the business and then sell it to the big guys, get them to employ him and have the cash from the sale of the family business for his family to then enjoy the fruits of his labour while he is young enough to enjoy it with them. There seems to have been a good arguable case against Rodney Adler in the charges he was convicted of and went to prison for, however there is also no doubt  that there are many business people in Australia and in the rest of the world that daily commit a lot worse and more questionable actions than what Rodney Adler did, and have not been charged and/or even investigated.
It seems to me that even though Rodney Adler may very well have been quilty of crimes of dishonesty that he has gone to prison for, it does not seem that he should go down in Austrlian history as being as major factor and/or cause in the collapse of HIH, which prior to its collapse was one of the most respected and largest insurance and financial institutions in Australia. "

Transcript

Hello and welcome to Sunday Profile. I'm Monica Attard...tonight, as he sits behind bars for the next 2 and a half years, Rodney Adler. It's been an amazing fall from grace. The son of business icon Larry Adler had it all...a great education, a life of luxury, his name was on Sydney's A-list and people knocked on his door with investment proposals. Now - that's all - largely -gone. No doubt, FAI Insurance - the company Larry Adler left his son - had problems and the 29 year old was rather green when he took the helm. But he stuck with it and in turn became known as Mr FAI.

In 1999, he sold FAI...to HIH.....one of four factors identified by the HIH Royal Commission as contributing to its 2001 collapse. Adler was never charged directly in relation to the HIH collapse. But the charges for which he's been jailed, came out of the 22 months he spent on the HIH Board. He resigned before the collapse but in the year before ,, he'd convinced HIH to allow him to oversee investments. He set up a trust - Pacific Eagle equity - or PEE - with $10 million dollars of HIH money. That trust bought HIH shares, when they were on a downward slide. And during the buying spree, Adler told a journalist he was using his money to buy the HIH stock. It wasn't his. It was HIH's. And in sentencing him , Justice Dunford said Adler's intention, in talking to the journalist, was to convince others to buy HIH!

The other charges related to a struggling company called Business Thinking Systems owned by HIH and Adler Corporation. Adler convinced HIH to invest $2 million dollars in BTS ... in return he would put up half a million dollars of his own . He didn't. And he never intended to. In 2002, in civil proceedings brought by ASIC, Justice Santow fined Rodney Adler 900,000 dollars, banned him from acting as a company director for 20 years and ordered him - along with Ray Williams and Dominic Federa, the Chief Financial Officer of HIH, to pay the HIH liquidator $8 million dollars to compensate for the money lost in HIH investments Adler controlled. Adler paid the lot.

But now, its all over...Adler is no longer a venture capitalist. No longer a director of a major company. And no longer a professional litigant. He is a prison inmate.
As you'll hear,in an interview recorded just before his sentencing hearing, he accepts no blame for HIH's collapse - and points the finger at those he thinks are to blame...he is anxious about jail - sad for his family - and glad it's all over.


Rodney Adler:
It's hard to equate relief with what I've gone through but I am happy that it is coming to an end not just for myself but for my family, it's been a great strain.

Monica Attard:
Do you feel that it's coming to an end?

Rodney Adler:
Yes, I do.

Monica Attard:
Cause you've done a deal with ASIC, the corporate regulator and you've pleaded guilty after years of pleading not guilty. It was a move that took a lot of people by surprise. Presumably the terms of that deal were enough to allow you to feel assured that this jail term is in fact the end of it? At least in so far as HIH is concerned.

Rodney Adler:
Well, the term 'done a deal with ASIC' is not something I'd like to agree with. When ASIC and my solicitors made the decision that the three market manipulation charges would be dropped and they were very serious charges and I was very concerned about those because I did not feel that I manipulated the market, I was then put into a position where I could plead guilty and bring this situation to an end and I took that opportunity to draw a line in the sand and say, "I'm sorry, I am guilty, can we please move on?"

Monica Attard:
Did you feel in changing your plea that if you didn't that this would just go on, that they would get you somehow?

Rodney Adler:
Well, it's been four and a half years. There were a number of recommendations by the HIH royal commissioner, Justice Neville Owen and a number of them could be followed up if there was enough evidence for them to be followed up. But we never got to that stage and so I could see another four or five years minimum of legal discussions, win or lose and that would mean a decade of my life whatever the result, and that was just too high a price to pay.Whatever the result, even if I'd won everything, a decade of my life would have been spent fighting with my money, my dwindling money to a body that had many people on it and a great deal of financial resources.

Monica Attard:
How much has it cost you so far?

Rodney Adler:
Well, in a purely legal sense, this last four and a half years has cost me just shy of seven and a half million dollars.

FOR THE FULL TRANSCRIPT OF MONICA ATTARD'S INTERVIEW AND MORE GREAT STORIES FROM Australia's ABC Televsion and Radio Click Here