Fitzgerald Indicts Lord Black of Crossharbour

Between the ongoing Plamegate-Whitehouse investigation and the George Ryan trial, etc., I had completely forgotten about this Patrick Fitzgerald prosecution.

From your Chicago Sun-Times:

Conrad Black, former chairman and chief executive of Hollinger International, and three other former executives were charged in a federal fraud indictment Thursday involving the $2.1 billion sale of several hundred Canadian newspapers and the abuse of corporate perquisites at newspaper publishing company Hollinger International Inc.

Black, 61, Hollinger International's ousted chairman, was accused in the 11-count indictment of cheating the company's U.S. and Canadian shareholders as well as Canadian taxing authorities.

Black and the others were accused of fraudulently diverting more than $32 million from the company through a complex series of transactions. Former Chicago Sun-Times publisher David Radler pleaded guilty to similar charges involving the $32 million in September.

But the indictment also outlines fresh allegations, including what federal prosecutors described as the fraudulent diversion of an additional $51.8 million in 2000 from Hollinger International's sale of assets to CanWestGlobal Communications Corp.

The story closes with this nugget:

Fitzgerald said in a statement issued by his office that "officers and directors of publicly traded companies who steer shareholders' money into their pockets should not lie to the board of directors to get permission to do so."

He said insiders "whose job it was to safeguard the shareholders made it their job to steal and conceal."

It seems Fitzgerald really, really doesn't care for liars who betray a trust.