July 14, 2007	Saturday	Jamadi-us-Sani 28, 1428

CHICAGO, July 13: A US jury on Friday found former media mogul Conrad Black guilty of multiple counts of criminal fraud and a single count of obstruction of justice, but acquitted him of racketeering and tax charges.

The 62-year-old, Canadian-born member of Britain's House of Lords could face up to 35 years in prison and millions of dollars in fines and forfeitures.

His lawyers said he would appeal.

His three co-defendants, former Hollinger International chief financial officer Jack Boultbee, 64; Peter Atkinson, 60, former vice president and general counsel for the same company; and Mark Kipnis, 59, a former Hollinger lawyer, were all found guilty of the same mail fraud charges as Black. They each face up to 15 years each in prison.

Friday’s verdict left Black guilty of three counts of mail fraud and one charge of obstruction of justice out of the 13 counts against him. He and three others in the trial were acquitted of failing to file corporate tax returns.

Black sat largely expressionless as the verdicts were read but a visible scowl crept across his face when he was found guilty of obstructing justice -- a charge that related to his removing cartons of records from his Toronto office.

Black's 25-year-old daughter, Alana, and columnist-wife Barbara Amiel Black leaned over to talk to him; he remained seated at the defence table.

Judge Amy St. Eve of the U.S. District Court who presided over the trial will decide the amount of the fines and forfeitures, which could include Black's Palm Beach, Florida, estate and assorted other luxury items such as a $2.6 million diamond ring.Black and the others had been accused by U.S. prosecutors of pilfering $60 million in payments that should have benefited Hollinger International., once the world's third-largest English language newspaper chain, and its shareholders.—Reuters