PUTTIN’ ON THE WRITS

Black's bail in tens of millions (Theresa Tedesco, National Post, December 1st, 2005)

Conrad Black will plead not guilty today in U.S. federal court to criminal charges and is expected to post millions of dollars in bail as one of the conditions that would allow him to return to Canada.

Lord Black will travel to Chicago with Edward Greenspan, a prominent Canadian criminal lawyer, to voluntarily face the charges contained in an 11-count federal grand jury indictment.[...]

As part of an agreement with U.S. prosecutors, Lord Black has agreed to post millions of dollars as one of the conditions that he not be remanded into custody or be forced to stay in the United States following his arraignment on fraud charges before U.S. Federal Judge Amy St. Eve this afternoon.

It is believed that as part of a bail agreement with the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Lord Black will not post a cash bond. Rather, a series of liens will be placed on his Palm Beach mansion, which was put up for sale earlier this year with an asking price of US$37-million.

In addition, the former media baron's bail will also include the US$9-million already seized by the FBI in early October from the sale of his New York apartment.[...]

Lord Black, who is not a Canadian citizen, will not be prohibited from returning to this country by Canadian border officials after his arraignment on criminal charges. It is believed his lawyers were successful in satisfying the criteria necessary to allow applicants to re-enter Canada under the federal Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

Last week, there was widespread speculation that the former chairman and chief executive of Hollinger International would be prevented from returning to Canada if he left the country to face the U.S. charges.

The Montreal-born businessman has been living in Toronto on a temporary basis after he renounced his Canadian citizenship in 2001 to obtain peerage in the British House of Lords. Since 2003, Lord Black, who is a British citizen, has been residing primarily in Toronto.

He has applied for permanent residency status in Canada, which is the first step toward reclaiming his citizenship.

Lord Black’s career path as successful magnate in both Britain and the U.S. recalls the quip made by a British barrister to an American colleague about successful lawyers: “In Britain, we knight them. In America, you indict them.”