Perle-Boss Conrad Black steps down

posted by ewing2001 on Sunday November 16, @09:54PM

Hollinger chief Black to step down

Update: Hollinger faces US investigation (11/20)

Reuters -Mon 17 November, 2003 08:39

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Newspaper publisher Hollinger International says Chief Executive Conrad Black and other top officials will step down after the company found unauthorised payments to Black and other executives.

Hollinger, whose newspapers include the Daily and Sunday Telegraph, the Chicago Sun-Times and the Jerusalem Post, said it has hired Lazard LLC to evaluate strategic alternatives, including a possible sale of the company or a sale of one or more of its major properties.

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Black is not the only executive leaving the company. The board of directors accepted the resignations of David Radler as president and chief operating officer and Mark Kipnis as corporate counsel, according to the company.

The moves come after a board committee determined that $32.15 million (19 million pounds) in payments were made that were not authorised or approved by either the audit committee or the full board of directors, the company said.

Investigation Clears Perle of Wrongdoing, Rumsfeld

ABC/Reuters

Nov. 16 � SEOUL (Reuters) - An investigation by the Defense Department's inspector general has cleared Pentagon adviser Richard Perle of any violation of conflict of interest laws in his private consulting business, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Sunday.

Rumsfeld issued a statement to reporters traveling with him in South Korea saying that Inspector General Joseph Schmitz had cleared Perle after a six-month investigation.

Flashback:

Relax, Celebrate Victory

US State Department -2 May 2003

By Richard Perle

From start to finish, President Bush has led the United States and its coalition partners to the most important military victory since World War II. And like the allied victory over the axis powers, the liberation of Iraq is more than the end of a brutal dictatorship: It is the foundation for a decent, humane government that will represent all the people of Iraq.

This was a war worth fighting. It ended quickly with few civilian casualties and with little damage to Iraq's cities, towns or infrastructure. It ended without the Arab world rising up against us, as the war's critics feared, without the quagmire they predicted, without the heavy losses in house-to-house fighting they warned us to expect. It was conducted with immense skill and selfless courage by men and women who will remain until Iraqis are safe, and who will return home as heroes.

...Iraqis are freer today and we are safer. Relax and enjoy it.

Hollinger faces US investigation

BBC -November 20

Hollinger, the troubled media firm which owns the Daily Telegraph, is facing an inquiry by US regulators. The Securities and Exchange Commission has served a subpoena - a legally binding request for information - on the company. Hollinger chief executive Conrad Black resigned on Monday after a row over unauthorised payments to executives. Lord Black has said he will now step down immediately, two days earlier than previously planned.

The company has pledged full cooperation with the SEC, which is seeeking documents from Hollinger's internal audit committee relating to the controversial payments. Hollinger auditors KPMG have also received subpoenas, Reuters reports. The company, which also owns the Sunday Telegraph, the Chicago Sun-Times, and the Jerusalem post, has said it may put itself up for sale.

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