Hollinger executives 'took $400m'
 

Media group Hollinger International has said former senior executives, led by ex-chief Conrad Black, took $400m (£223m) of the company's money.
Unveiling the findings of an internal investigation, Hollinger said the sum accounted for 95.2% of its adjusted net income between 1997 and 2003.

It said Lord Black and others "made it their business to line their pockets in almost every way they could devise".

Lord Black's firm, Hollinger Inc, did not respond when contacted by the BBC.

Legal tussle

The Hollinger investigation focused on unauthorised payments allegedly received by Lord Black and other executives.

Lord Black was forced to quit as Hollinger chief in November 2003 after the firm carried out an initial inquiry.

In May this year, Hollinger filed a lawsuit against Lord Black and his associates which claimed that they had paid themselves large sums without approval, and treated the company "as a cash cow to be milked".

Lord Black has strongly denied the allegations detailed in the Hollinger lawsuit, and has countersued the company.

In the latest 513-page document filed to the US financial regulator, the Securities & Exchange Commission, Hollinger International said it had been "systematically manipulated and used by its controlling shareholders for their sole benefit, and in a manner that violated every concept of fiduciary duty".

It described the withdrawal of funds from the company as "aggressive looting" and "a corporate kleptocracy" designed to fund the personal lifestyle of Lord Black and his wife, Barbara Amiel Black.

Hollinger International owns a string of newspapers worldwide, including the Chicago Sun Times and the Jerusalem Post.

Last month, it sold its flagship publications, the UK-based Daily and Sunday Telegraph titles and the Spectator magazine, to billionaire financiers the Barclay brothers.



http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3614690.stm

Lord Black is in the shit house over this me thinks :winkwink:

damn canadians..