KEY POINTS:
Conrad Black's lawyers yesterday portrayed the man who took over running of his media empire as a money-grabbing opportunist who knew nothing about the newspaper industry.
Gordon Paris ran Hollinger International from 2003, when Lord Black was forced out by the conclusions of an internal investigation run by Paris himself.
The peer's defence against 14 fraud charges is that, far from thieving US$60 million ($84.4 million) from Hollinger as alleged, he is in fact the victim of a massive theft.
The company was stolen from him by outside shareholders, his lawyers claim.
On the third full day of Black's trial in downtown Chicago, Paris testified that he was charged with running an investigation into fees and perks enjoyed by Black and his companies, and into a string of "non-competition" agreements that allowed the accused and his associates to take home tens of millions of dollars.
Paris's appointment to run a special Hollinger International committee came after pressure from outside shareholders, and his conclusion - that Black ran a "corporate kleptocracy" - prompted the board to sack most of the management.
- Independent
