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 preventing Black and Radler from serving as officers of public companies.
"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 as a defendant. The Toronto-based holding company is controlled by Black and holds 30 percent of the shares in the US media group.
The complaint requests that those votes be put in trust, under the jurisdiction of an independent, third-party.
An earlier report by a special committee set up by the board of Hollinger International concluded that Black and Radler looted the company of 380 million dollars during their tenures as chief executive and chief financial officer.
The board ousted the two men in November 2003.
But the SEC's year-long probe, which is ongoing, was narrower in focus than that investigation, concentrating on the unauthorised non-compete fees that Black and Radler pocketed when they sold off certain Hollinger titles.
11/15/2004 - 19:08 GMT - AFP