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Maverick Tapie convicted of fraud

French business maverick Bernard Tapie has been sentenced to three years in jail for tax fraud.

But the former Marseille football club owner will not go to prison after the judge took into account time already served for previous convictions.

The Paris Criminal Court found Tapie guilty of failing to pay 7m euros (£4

Black set to appear in US court

Media tycoon Lord Black is due to appear in a US court on Thursday to face charges of fraud.

He was indicted last month on eight counts of fraud, accused of taking money from newspaper group Hollinger International for his own use.

The British peer has denied all the charges, calling them “absolute nonsense”

Pinochet faces tax fraud charges

Former Chilean military ruler Gen Augusto Pinochet has been placed under house arrest and charged with tax evasion and passport fraud.

He is also accused of using forged government documents and misleading officials over his assets.

The charges relate to $27m (£15

Blair faces Iraq war inquiry move

Tony Blair faces a fresh move by senior MPs to set up a full Parliamentary inquiry into the UK role in the run up to the Iraq war and its aftermath.

Tory Ken Clarke and Lib Dem deputy leader Sir Menzies Campbell are among those backing the cross-party motion.

They are aiming to get 200 signatures and get a debate in the Commons

Conrad Black denies fraud charges

Media tycoon Conrad Black has denied charges of 11 counts of fraud in the US, linked to a $2.1bn (£1.2bn) sale of hundreds of Canadian newspapers

Ex-Refco boss faces eight charges

Former Refco chief executive Phillip Bennett has been indicted on eight counts including conspiracy, securities fraud and making false filings.

Mr Bennett, 57, who was arrested in October, is accused of hiding $430m (£243m) in debts at the US brokerage before it floated on the stock market.

He denies any wrongdoing and has been released under a $50m bond

Lang sues ex-manager for ‘fraud’

Singer kd lang is suing her ex-manager for allegedly taking fees from the musician’s account without her consent.

Canadian singer lang, whose hits include Constant Craving, claims Annabel Lapp drew cheques from her business account without permission.

Ms Lapp represented lang from 1990 until September, when the singer terminated her contract

Ambassador turns on Blair over Iraq

There are some diplomats who think that an ambassador’s desk should hold its secrets as much as the psychiatrist’s couch.

Not Sir Christopher Meyer, lately Her Britannic Majesty’s Ambassador in Washington.

Correspondents based in Washington knew Mr Meyer as an accomplished envoy, and an engaging and sharp-tongued informant

Memoirs shine new light on war

Tony Blair has faced any number of claims about what he did and did not do when he and President Bush were preparing to go to war on Iraq.

The difference with Sir Christopher Meyer’s recollections is that he was actually there most of the time.

The former UK ambassador to the US witnessed much of the talk first hand and was in a position to see the relationship between the two men develop, and even help it along where necessary

Fraud boss gets jail term reduced

A company chief who took £2.5m from investors to support his own business has had his sentence cut.

Steven Higham, 54, of Hillmorton Road, Rugby, Warks, was managing director of Nottingham-based Oaktree Financial Services, when he stole from clients