Media baron Conrad Black starts jail term for fraud

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Agencies

Posted online: Tuesday , March 04, 2008 at 07:58:44
Updated: Tuesday , March 04, 2008 at 08:19:12

Washington, March 4: Disgraced media baron Conrad Black, who once counted politicians and popstars among his entourage, began a six-and-a-half year jail term imposed for multi-million dollar fraud, officials said.

"He reported today to a low security prison in Coleman, Florida," Mike Truman, spokesman for the Federal Bureau of Prisons said on Monday.

Black, who has appealed his conviction imposed in July by a federal court in Chicago, was ordered to wait out the rest of the appeal in jail.

The 63-year-old, who once ran the world's third largest media empire with such titles in his stable as Britain's Daily Telegraph and the Chicago Sun-Times, is now prisoner 18330-424 in the Coleman jail, some 80 kilometers northwest of Orlando.

It marked the climax to his spectacular fall which began when Black was charged with raiding the coffers of his once mighty newspaper empire, Hollinger, and trying to cover up his crime.

He was found guilty of four counts of fraud for misappropriating some USD 60 million of shareholder funds during the sale of Hollinger to the Canadian press group Canwest in 2000, and one count of obstruction.

His conviction for obstruction of justice was based on a surveillance videotape that caught him loading boxes of documents from his Toronto office into his car after the Securities and Exchange Commission notified him he was under investigation.

Besides his six-and-a-half year prison term, Black in December was also sentenced to pay a USD 125,000 fine and a forfeiture of USD 6.1 million.

"You've committed a very serious crime, Mr. Black," Judge Amy St Eve said when she imposed the lowest sentence under the sentencing guidelines.

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