Black drops bid to return to Canada: reports
Last Updated: Friday, August 6, 2010 | 12:32 AM ET
CBC News
Conrad Black has dropped his request to be allowed to return to Canada while out on bail, according to media reports.
Black was to appear at a Chicago courtroom on Aug. 16 and provide more details about his financial situation, as ordered by U.S. District Court Judge Amy St. Eve.
Conrad Black has dropped his request to be allowed to return to Canada over concerns of signing a sworn affidavit detailing his financial situation, according to reports. (Kiichiro Sato/Associated Press) But the court has cancelled that hearing, according to Bloomberg News, citing an entry in the court's electronic docket.
Black reportedly does not want to provide a sworn affidavit about his financial affairs, sources told the National Post, the newspaper he founded and sold. His lawyers are said to be concerned that the legal document could be used by U.S. prosecutors to revoke his bail, the paper reported.
In 2006, U.S. prosecutors accused Black of misleading authorities about the value of assets used to secure his bail and demanded that his bail be revoked unless he put up more of his holdings.
Black was released in July on a $2-million-US bond from a Florida prison where he had been serving a 6½-year sentence for fraud and obstruction of justice.
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court set aside the three fraud convictions on the grounds the "honest services" law he was convicted under was inappropriate and overreaching.
Black had been seeking to return to Canada while his case is re-examined and is currently living at a Palm Beach mansion he rents.
The Montreal-born former media mogul gave up his Canadian citizenship in 2001 to accept a seat in the British House of Lords.
