Barbara Amiel - Conrad Black's Fraud Trial

Conrad Black's Fraud Trial

At the origin of Black's troubles with his shareholders and justice, is a 2002 interview his wife granted to Vogue magazine in her London mansion, where she said that her "extravagance knows no bounds." Amiel displayed "a fur closet, a sweater closet, a closet for shirts and T-shirts and a closet so crammed with evening gowns that the overflow has to be kept in yet more closets downstairs." There were also a dozen Hermes Birkin bags, thirty to forty handbags made by Renaud Pellegrino and more than 100 pairs of Manolo Blahnik shoes. Amiel's 'extravagance' was not only confined to clothes; she also had a large collection of jewellery, mostly diamonds and pearls. After this interview, Hollinger International began legal action in Illinois against the couple and other executives, seeking $1.25 billion in damages.

Black was convicted of fraud and obstruction of justice in a Chicago courtroom on July 13, 2007. Amiel was with him every day of the trial from its beginning in March 2007. Lord Black was sentenced to 6.5 years in prison in December 2007. He reported to Coleman Correctional Facility in Florida on March 3, 2008. Black's appeal against his convictions was turned down by the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit on June 24, 2008. On May 18, 2009, the Supreme Court of the United States agreed to hear an appeal of his conviction.