Hollinger men face fraud charges

Two former officials from Conrad Black’s media empire have been charged with allegedly diverting $32m (£17m) through bogus newspaper deals.

David Radler, ex-president of Hollinger International and Hollinger’s in-house lawyer Mark Kipnis face seven counts of fraud.

The two were indicted together with Conrad Black’s bankrupt holding company Ravelston Corporation.

Disgraced tycoon Conrad Black was not accused of any wrongdoing.

The indictment alleged that the men diverted the money through a series of secret deals disguising the cash as non-compete fees associated with the sale of newspaper publishing groups.

“Shareholders in public companies have a right to expect that their monies will be managed properly,” said US attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said when announcing the charges.

Conrad Black resigned from the board of newspaper owner Hollinger International in 2003 and the company has since sued him.

Hollinger alleges that he made millions of dollars of unauthorised payments from the firm to himself and others.

Hollinger International owns the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper and last year sold the Daily Telegraph in London and Israel’s Jerusalem Post.