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Radler Pleads Guilty to $32M Hollinger Scheme NewsMax.com Wires CHICAGO -- Former Chicago Sun-Times publisher David Radler pleaded guilty Tuesday to taking part in a scheme to siphon away $32 million from Hollinger International Inc., the newspaper's parent company, for himself and others. Radler, who resigned in 2003, entered his guilty plea to one count of mail fraud in federal court in Chicago. He is cooperating with prosecutors who have said the investigation is ongoing. Radler remains free on bond. "This is the first step in making amends for what has taken place," Radler's attorney Anton Valukas said after court. Radler was indicted Aug. 18 along with a former executive of the company that owns the Sun-Times and Toronto-based Ravelston Corp., a private company owned until this spring by Conrad Black, on five counts each of mail fraud and two counts of wire fraud. They were accused of cheating shareholders in the United States and Canada as well as Canadian tax authorities. Black, the ousted CEO of Chicago-based Hollinger International, was not charged in the indictment.
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Valukas said Radler, 63, of Vancouver, British Columbia, feels "sorry and saddened for the pain he has caused." Ravelston - the privately held Canadian company that Black and Radler used to control - went into receivership after they resigned this April. It is the majority owner of Hollinger Inc., the Toronto-based holding company that has voting control over Hollinger International. Mark S. Kipnis, 58, who was the top in-house lawyer for Hollinger International, pleaded not guilty last month. Kipnis is free on a $250,000 personal recognizance bond. The indictment alleged Radler, Kipnis and Ravelston diverted the money through a series of secret deals by disguising it as noncompete fees connected to the sale of newspaper publishing groups. Kipnis is accused of participating in the scheme and not telling Hollinger International's audit committee about the illegal payments, according to the indictment. The indictment says Kipnis participated in documenting and closing each deal, the business terms of which were supervised by Radler.
Radler's sentencing was postponed because it is dependent on his cooperation with federal authorities. He could have received a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, but with full cooperation federal prosecutors will recommend 29 months in prison and a $250,000 fine, according to the plea agreement.
© 2005 The Associated Press
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