Fraud Case Against Mogul Goes to Jury

(NEWSER) - The standard of proof at former media mogul Conrad Black's fraud trial in Chicago will be set low. In issuing the so-called "ostrich instruction," the judge allowed the jury to convict if Black and his co-defendants deliberately avoided knowing about wrong-doing. More»

Court rules tycoon must spend appeal process in prison

(NEWSER) - Former media tycoon Conrad Black, convicted of swindling millions from his newspaper empire, will be behind bars by Monday night, reports the Chicago Sun-Tribune. A Chicago court ruled that he couldn't remain free on bail while awaiting a decision on his appeal. Black has been sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison for obstruction of justice and defrauding shareholders of Hollinger International, once the third-largest publisher of English-language newspapers in the world. More»

Convicted media baron accused of hiding money in Gibraltar

(NEWSER) - Disgraced media mogul Conrad Black has shuffled $60 million to an offshore account into Gibraltar, an affidavit filed at his Chicago bail hearing alleged yesterday. Canada's Globe and Mail reports that Juval Aviv, a private investigator with a checkered past, told the court that he had uncovered a complex network of secret bank transfers while working for Black's Hollinger Media. More»

He could face more than 20 years in prison

(AP) - Texas tycoon R. Allen Stanford, whose financial empire once spanned the Americas, was convicted today on all but one of the 14 counts he faced for allegedly bilking investors out of more than $7 billion in a massive Ponzi scheme he operated for 20 years. Jurors reached their verdicts against Stanford during their fourth day of deliberation, finding him guilty on all charges except a single count of wire fraud. More»

Limits 'honest services' prosecutions for white collar crimes

(AP) - The Supreme Court ruled today that prosecutors erred in using a federal fraud law to convict former Enron chief executive Jeffrey Skilling, but left it to a lower court to determine whether his conviction should be overturned. The justices were unanimous in imposing limits on the use of the federal "honest services" fraud law that has been a favorite of white-collar crime prosecutors. In a related opinion, they also ordered a new a hearing for former newspaper magnate Conrad Black. More»