JURIST - Paper Chase: Hollinger settles civil fraud lawsuit with SEC for $21.3M

[JURIST] Hollinger Inc. [corporate website], the Canadian holding company with an interest in former newspaper publisher Hollinger International [corporate website], has agreed to pay the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) [official website] $21.3 million to settle claims [press release] that from 1999 to 2003 it violated securities law by failing to disclose to investors payments and other transactions that benefited the executives to the detriment of the company. The settlement [PDF text] stems from a lawsuit filed by the SEC in November 2004 against former Hollinger International chairman Conrad Black, former Hollinger president David Radler [JURIST news archives], and Hollinger Inc. Under the terms of the settlement, Hollinger Inc. has agreed to be permanently enjoined from committing future securities laws violations. The settlement must still be approved by US District Judge William T. Hart [official website] before it becomes final.

Radler was sentenced in December to 29 months in prison for one count of mail fraud, after pleading guilty [JURIST reports] and agreeing to serve as a witness against Black. Black was convicted in July of mail fraud and obstruction of justice and sentenced to 78 months in prison; he began serving his sentence earlier this month after a federal appeals court rejected his request to remain free on bail [JURIST reports] while his appeal is pending. Radler, Black and other Hollinger executives were prosecuted in the United States in connection to allegations [indictment, PDF] that they diverted more than $80 million from Hollinger International [JURIST report], now Sun-Times Media Group, and its shareholders during the company's $2.1 billion sale of several hundred Canadian newspapers. CBC News has more.

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