WASHINGTON (AFP) - US securities officials charged the disgraced former press baron, Conrad Black, and his former deputy, David Radler, with securities fraud in connection with alleged wrongdoing at Hollinger International.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission accused Black and Radler of bilking the US-based media group of at least 85 million dollars in a complaint filed in US district court in Illinois.
The agency is seeking the return of those monies, unspecified financial penalties, and a bar on Black and Radler serving as officers of public companies, as punishment for the alleged wrongdoing.
"Black and Radler abused their control of a public company and treated it as their personal piggy bank," said Stephen Cutler, director of the Commission's division of enforcement, in a statement.
"Instead of carrying out their responsibilities to protect the interest of public shareholders, the defendants cheated and defrauded these shareholders through a series of deceptive schemes and misstatements."
The complaint also names Hollinger Inc, the Toronto-based holding company that controls about 30 percent of the outstanding shares of Chicago-based Hollinger International.
The SEC is asking that those shares and any others that Black directly or indirectly holds in Hollinger International -- the owner of the Jerusalem Post and Chicago Sun-Times titles -- to be put in a trust, under the jurisdiction of an independent, third-party, by order of the court.
Black and Radler served as chief executive and chief financial officer of Hollinger International until November 2003, when they were ousted by the board following over allegations that they systematically looted the company of millions of dollars.
11/15/2004 - 18:25 GMT - AFP