Prosecution hammers key witness in Black case

CHICAGO — Conrad Black’s lawyer Monday accused the star prosecution witness against the former media baron of being a habitual liar out to save himself.

As David Radler, Black’s longtime business partner turned government informant, took the stand for a fifth day, defense attorney Edward Greenspan continued the assault on his veracity, this time using testimony Radler gave last week in the criminal fraud trial.

Radler, who has pleaded guilty in the case and faces jail time, testified that he had reviewed statements he made to a special committee that had investigated Hollinger International Inc., the media giant he and Black built over 30 years.

But on Monday Radler said the review actually was a back-and-forth with prosecutors who were questioning him in preparation for the trial. He said he must have misunderstood Greenspan’s question last week about what he had reviewed.

“I had no access to those statements,” Radler said.

“I can only give you the facts. I have never seen my statements before the special committee” that investigated Hollinger, he told Greenspan.

“Or it’s apparent that you’re just a liar,” Greenspan shot back. “It’s easy for you to lie, is it not?”

“I don’t believe I have to answer that question,” Radler protested.

The 62-year-old Black, a Canadian-born member of Britain’s House of Lords, is charged with racketeering, fraud, money laundering and obstruction of justice. If convicted, he faces as many as 101 years in prison, millions in fines and $92 million in forfeitures.

Three codefendants face lesser charges, but all four men together stand accused of stealing $60 million from Hollinger International, now known as Sun-Times Media Group.

In testifying for the prosecution, Radler has described how money flowed from the sale of newspapers and other properties he and Black sold off.

That included millions of dollars in noncompete payments the government says Black and the others pocketed instead of sending the funds to Hollinger International for the benefit of its shareholders.

Noncompete payments are designed to prevent a seller from reentering the same market. But Black and the others are accused of using part of the numerous payments as illegal tax-free bonuses for themselves.

Greenspan has hammered away at Radler, trying to give the jury the message that his word can’t be trusted.

Radler protested to Greenspan that he had been “telling the truth since I walked in this door and to the grand jury.”

Greenspan then began to depict him as a man out to save himself, saying that his plea agreement would set him free after only six months in jail, perhaps spent at a prison with a “golf course therapy program” near his British Columbia home.

Radler has pleaded guilty to one count of fraud in an agreement with prosecutors in exchange for a 29-month jail sentence and testimony against Black and the others. He has also paid a $7-million fine related to the case.

Prosecutors have depicted Radler and Black as close associates in and out of business.

The trial is in its ninth week.