When the FBI Comes Calling…®
August 20, 2005
Black to the wall
Mogul won't go down without a fight
By Gillian Livingston, The Canadian Press
Fallen from the perch high atop his former newspaper empire, Conrad Black's future seems destined to include lengthy -- and expensive -- legal wrangling if U.S. authorities try to extradite him from England to face charges.
With a jail term possible if he's convicted of securities fraud in the United States, the former Hollinger group chief executive will likely fight and delay extradition and any charges with all the clout and cash he can muster, lawyers said yesterday.
Allegations two years ago that he fraudulently diverted cash from one of his companies led to a spectacular fall from grace for Black, a jetsetter who once gloated about the strength of his newspaper empire, owned houses all over the world and regularly socialized with prime ministers and corporate kingpins.
But news in Chicago that Black's longtime friend, David Radler, has been indicted on securities fraud charges -- and plans to plead guilty and co-operate with authorities -- suggests Black could soon be next.
U.S. authorities need to move quickly to lay charges against Black to get a potentially lengthy case started, said Douglas McNabb, senior principal at McNabb Associates, a Houston law firm specializing in international extradition.
"The U.S. cannot seek Mr. Black's extradition until after he has been charged," said McNabb, suggesting that could be announced within a week.
Charges would lead authorities to request Black's extradition and to put a notice of the U.S. arrest warrant on Interpol, the international police network. Even if charged and facing extradition, Black has several legal options that alone could drag out the extradition case for a few years at least, McNabb said.
Black, who gave up his Canadian citizenship a few years ago in a dispute with former prime minister Jean Chretien over a British peerage, could face years of prison time, "absolutely, without doubt if he's convicted," McNabb said.
That gives Black a good reason to take each legal battle as far as he can.
There's little reason to see why Britain would prevent Black's extradition, McNabb said, since in 2003 the country changed its own extradition laws allowing the U.S. to extradite people as long as they could prove charges were pending.
U.S. authorities are playing out a now-familiar strategy. They will use information from Radler -- who was charged along with another executive Thursday with fraudulently diverting $32 million from Hollinger International -- to build their case against the former media mogul.
This article is also found in the Toronto Sun