By Jeffrey Hodgson
TORONTO (Reuters) - A Canadian appeals court will likely rule by October 27 on whether fallen press baron Conrad Black may continue his fight to keep his former holding company from pleading to U.S. fraud charges, a judge said on Tuesday.
Justice David Doherty of the Court of Appeal for Ontario said his three-judge panel hopes to issue a ruling before the next U.S. hearing on the charges.
"We’ll try to have it dealt with by then," he said.
A lower court judge ruled earlier this month that the receiver for Ravelston Corp., once the centre of Black’s global newspaper empire, was free to plead not guilty to U.S. fraud charges on behalf of the company.
But Black’s lawyers argue that Toronto-based Ravelston should not enter a plea in the case because it is beyond the jurisdiction of U.S. courts.
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"There’s no point in going to a game you might get hurt in if you don’t have to play," lawyer Edward Greenspan told the panel.
Ravelston, which was put into receivership in April, was
charged in the United States in August with five counts of mail
fraud and two counts of wire fraud relating to the sale of
community newspapers by Chicago Sun-Times publisher Hollinger
International Inc.
"The only stakeholder that came forward and opposed that was Lord Black," he said.
LIEUTENANT PLEADS GUILTY
Black, a Canadian-born member of the House of Lords, once used Ravelston and other holding companies to control Hollinger International, which was publisher of London’s Daily Telegraph and the Jerusalem Post among other titles.
Black was forced out of Hollinger International after Hollinger uncovered what it said were unauthorized payments to him and others. Black has not been criminally charged in the case.
His one-time loyal lieutenant, former Hollinger International President David Radler, pleaded guilty last month to mail fraud for his role in siphoning $32 million (18.3 million pounds) from the company and agreed to testify against any other defendants.
Radler agreed to co-operate in exchange for a sentence of 29 months in prison plus a $250,000 fine.
Last year U.S. regulators alleged in a civil suit that Black, Radler and others "cheated and defrauded" Hollinger International shareholders. Those claims have not been proven in court.
Hollinger International has also named Black and Radler in a $542-million lawsuit that accused them and others of looting the company.
