Conrad Black, the ousted newspaper tycoon facing criminal fraud charges, is in London after a judge agreed to relax the conditions of his bail.
On Monday Black left Toronto, where he had been holed up for months, apart from recent trips to Chicago to face the fraud charges, and will return to Canada on Saturday.
Black is a U.K. citizen and member of the British House of Lords, but had been barred from traveling overseas as a condition of his $20 million bail.
But in a court filing yesterday, U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve allowed Black to make the six-day trip to London, where he is staying at the luxurious Claridge’s Hotel.
At his first arraignment on Dec. 1, Black had asked to skip a Dec. 16 court appearance to travel to England but was ordered to appear in court. At last week’s hearing, he was arraigned a second time on additional charges of fraud, obstruction of justice and racketeering.
Black has pleaded not guilty and his trial is scheduled to start in March 2007. The long delay is due to a terrorism trial that the judge in the case is scheduled to preside over in the fall.
Black and his ex-cohorts at Hollinger International – the newspaper empire he once presided over – are accused of looting company coffers of more than $80 million.
As conditions of his bail, Black has pledged his Palm Beach mansion and $8.5 million in proceeds from selling his Park Avenue apartment.
If convicted on all counts, Black faces a maximum of 95 years in prison.