Hollinger

Thursday January 19, 2012

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Thursday January 19, 2012

Italian cruise disaster

A stricken Italian cruise liner shifted on its rocky resting place Monday as worsening weather disrupted an increasingly despairing hunt for survivors and authorities raised their estimate of the number missing to 29 people.

As the Costa Concordia’s owners blamed their captain for veering shorewards on Friday in a bravura “salute” to residents of a Tuscan island, the giant ship slid a little, threatening to plunge its whole carcass and 2,300 tonnes of fuel below the Mediterranean waters of the surrounding nature reserve.

The slippage forced rescuers to suspend for a few hours their efforts to find anyone still alive after three days in the capsized hull, resting on a jagged slope near the island of Giglio. Firefighters said the search would resume at daybreak.

Six bodies have been found since the ship foundered after striking a rock Friday night. Italian coast guard officials on Monday revised the number of people missing up to 29 — 25 passengers and four staff members — from 16.

Environment Minister Corrado Clini said he would declare a state of emergency because of the risk that the ship’s fuel would leak into the Tuscan Archipelago National Park. No fuel spillage has been detected so far, he told an Italian TV show.

The father of the ship’s head waiter said his son telephoned him before the accident to say the crew would salute him by blowing the ship’s whistle as they passed close by Giglio, where both the waiter, Antonello Tievoli, and his father Giuseppe live. “The ship obviously came too close,” the elder Tievoli said. “I don’t know if Antonello asked the captain to come near, but the responsibility is always the captain’s.” (Source: Toronto Star) 

 

Tuesday December 11, 2007

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday December 11, 2007

Conrad Black sentenced to 6 1/2 years in prison

A Chicago judge sentenced disgraced media tycoon Conrad Black to six and one-half years — or 78 months — in prison and handed him a $125,000 fine, which must be paid within 90 days. 

Conrad Black Cartoon Gallery

Black made his way through a throng of reporters outside the courthouse, offering little comment other than to say an appeal “would speak for itself.” 

He was told to report to the Florida penitentiary at Eglin Air Force Base before March 3, although it was soon discovered that Eglin has been closed for a year. The government is now asking that Black serve his time at another low-security prison in the same state: Federal Correctional Institution Coleman. 

Judge Amy St. Eve told Black she felt he was not a “future threat” because of everything he had lost. 

Black spoke for only a few minutes in court, despite reports that he had prepared a 5,000-word statement. 

He complimented the judge on her handling of the trial, and said he regretted the loss suffered by Hollinger International shareholders. 

Black was also ordered to forfeit $6.1 million for fraud and obstruction of justice — with no right to restitution. (Source: CTV News) 

 

Friday July 20, 2007

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday July 20, 2007

Black to remain out on bail

A Chicago federal judge on Thursday allowed convicted media tycoon Conrad Black to remain free pending his November sentencing but declined to let him return to his native Canada.

Conrad Black Cartoon Gallery

U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve restricted Black’s travels to the Chicago area and southern Florida, where he owns a beachfront mansion.

The ruling was a compromise between placing Black in jail as federal prosecutors wanted and giving him complete freedom. St. Eve said she does not think Black is “going to run and hide,” but indicated she’s not entirely convinced Black will return to Chicago for sentencing.

St. Eve said she would reconsider Black’s request to live in Toronto if his lawyers can provide more assurances that he will not start an extradition fight when it is his time to be sentenced. She continued to hold his passport and scheduled another hearing on the matter for Aug. 1.

“I think the judge is a very reasonable woman,” Edward Genson, one of Black’s attorneys, said after the hearing. (Source: Chicago Tribune)

“Black admittedly has a larger presence in Canada, which is why Graeme MacKay leapt on the story and did this cartoon for the Hamilton Spectator. Black was convicted of fraud and obstruction of justice and was serving a 42 month sentence when he remembered that he was (A) rich and (B) a publisher …”

Wednesday June 27, 2007

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday June 27, 2007

Conrad Black trial goes to jury

Jury deliberation on the criminal charges faced by media baron Conrad Black moved a step closer after the lawyers made final arguments in court. The jury is expected to retire on Wednesday to consider its verdict on the fraud trial of Lord Black.

Conrad Black Cartoon Gallery

The former newspaper tycoon is accused of stealing $60m (£30m) from Hollinger International when he was in charge of the group, which he denies.

If convicted, he faces prison and steep financial penalties.

The lengthy trial has centred on whether the entrepreneur who built up a media empire from a single loss-making newspaper in Quebec profited at the expense of shareholders by illegally using “non-competition” payments.

The payments came at a time when Hollinger, once owner of Britain’s Daily Telegraph, the Chicago Sun-Times and the Jerusalem Post, was selling hundreds of newspapers in the US and Canada.

These are designed to reimburse a company for not competing in a market it has exited. (Source: BBC News) 

 

Tuesday January 20, 2004

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday January 20, 2004

Black: Sacked, sued and selling

Conrad Black’s days as a newspaper baron are over.

Capping months of turbulence and accusations of self-dealing and diverting company money, Black agreed yesterday to sell his controlling stake in Hollinger Inc. to British billionaire twin brothers David and Frederick Barclay as part of a takeover offer valued at $605.5 million.

Conrad Black Cartoon Gallery

The Barclay brothers’ Press Holdings International Ltd., which already owns several British newspapers including the Scotsman, as well as London’s Ritz Hotel, would pay $423.8 million in cash and assume debt of $181.7 million.

The Barclays said they have an irrevocable agreement with Ravelston Corp., Black’s investment vehicle, to buy its 78 per cent stake in Hollinger Inc. The brothers will then offer to buy out minority shareholders.

“I am delighted that we have been able to enter into this agreement and I have no doubt that the financial strength and direction that we can bring will allow the group to flourish, ” said David Barclay, whose company is based in the Channel Islands between Britain and France.

Based in Toronto, Hollinger Inc. controls U.S. subsidiary Hollinger International Inc., the publisher of the Chicago Sun-Times, the Jerusalem Post and flagship London Daily Telegraph.

Hollinger Inc., which as recently as 1999 controlled 60 per cent of Canada’s daily newspapers, still owns 13 Canadian dailies, including the Kamloops Daily News in British Columbia, and Quebec’s Sherbrooke Record.

In a statement yesterday, Black said it would be “distressing” to part with the newspapers, “but these fine titles must not be hobbled any longer by the current controversies and financial uncertainty.”

Black’s agreement to sell his interest in the media empire came a day after Hollinger International announced it had fired Black as chairman and filed a $200 million (U.S.) lawsuit against Black, his investment firms, and David Radler, Black’s former top director. The company alleged Black, a member of Britain’s House of Lords, siphoned company money away from investors and altered financial statements. (Toronto Star, 1/19/2004, A1)