Radler: We were a team
STAR WITNESS | 'I didn't make a financial decision without consulting Conrad Black'
They were close.
So said David Radler, former publisher of the Chicago Sun-Times, about his personal and business relationship with former press baron Conrad Black.
In his first day as the government's star witness in the federal fraud case against Black, Radler described how they first went into business together in 1969, working late nights side-by-side as co-owners of a small Canadian newspaper. They took vacations together to New Orleans and Hawaii. Radler even stood up at Black's wedding.
(AP)
Coming today: The prosecution continues its effort to show that Radler and Black were close business partners. Black is being defended by star Chicago lawyer Edward Gensen and star Canadian lawyer Edward Greenspan, who are said to be licking their chops at the prospect of tearing into Radler's testimony.
"I didn't make a financial decision without consulting Conrad Black," Radler said.
Black, Hollinger's former CEO, and three other former executives are on trial for allegedly helping to steal about $84 million from the company, now called Sun-Times Media Group. Radler, once chief operating officer, pleaded guilty to fraud.
Radler and his companies also will pay $63.4 million to settle claims by Sun-Times Media Group, though this was not told to the jury.
The prosecution's case will largely hinge on Radler's believability. The defense claims Radler is a liar, and cross-examination starting this afternoon should be fierce.
Black's attorneys want to establish that Black and Radler ran separate areas of the company -- with Black controlling England and eastern Canada while Radler had western Canada and the United States. The defense claim is important because the charges against Black largely focus on "non-compete" payments skimmed from sales of U.S. newspapers.
But Radler said Monday that he kept Black informed on the progress of all U.S. newspaper deals. "I have no recollection of selling a newspaper anywhere without Conrad Black," said Radler, who is expected to address the actual charges of the case today.
Dressed in a dark gray suit, white shirt and hot-pink tie, Radler seemed relaxed and even affable as he answered questions from the government.
Also on Monday, a former assistant to Black, Janice Akerhielm, testified that Black told her to charge Hollinger International for two-thirds of a $62,000 birthday party for his wife, Barbara Amiel Black. The party included an opera singer and $320 bottles of champagne. The defense claims the party included Hollinger business.