Ex-Sun Times owner Black sues former ally Radler

Conrad Black, the ex-Hollinger International Inc. chairman and chief executive officer, likened ex-ally F. David Radler to the biblical Cain in a lawsuit filed in Chicago as Black returned to a a U.S. prison in Florida.

Black, who must serve about one more year of the federal sentence imposed for his 2007 convictions for mail fraud and obstructing justice, accused Radler of self-dealing and breach of fiduciary duty in the management of closely held Horizon Publications Inc., in which each man holds a corporate interest.

Radler, who served as Hollinger's chief operating officer, was a key government witness in the four-month trial that ended with Black being found guilty on three fraud counts, two of which were later overturned on appeal.

“Ever since Radler's infamous Cain-like betrayal,” Radler and Horizon's other directors have acted in their own interests and against Horizon, Black and Black's company, Conrad Black Capital Corp., according to the complaint.

Now known as Sun-Times Media Group Inc., Hollinger was once the world's third-biggest publisher of English language newspapers, including the Jerusalem Post, Canada's National Post and the U.K.'s Daily Telegraph.

During that time, Black, 67, received a life peerage in Britain's upper house of Parliament, adopting the name Lord Black of Crossharbour.

Horizon, based in Downstate Marion, publishes newspapers in 16 states and two Canadian provinces, according to its website.

Radler and Black, who started out in 1969 with a single newspaper in Sherbrooke, Quebec, were among five Hollinger executives indicted in 2005 for stealing from the company as it sold off more than $3 billion in assets between 1998 and 2001.

Radler, 69, pleaded guilty to a single fraud count and then cooperated with prosecutors. While he received a 29-month sentence, Radler was transferred into Canadian custody and released from incarceration in that country after serving about 10 months.

Black was initially sentenced to 6 1/2 years in federal prison. That term was reduced by about three years after he successfully appealed two of the four counts upon which he was found guilty.

Conrad Black Capital Corp., which is led by Black and his wife, journalist Barbara Amiel, seek at least $5 million in compensatory damages from Horizon, Radler and the other directors, $15 million in punitive damages, an accounting of the company's finances and other relief, according to the complaint.

Anton Valukas, the Chicago attorney who represented Radler in the criminal case, didn't immediately reply to an e-mail message seeking comment after regular business hours.

Black entered a federal prison in Miami today, the Associated Press reported. U.S. Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman Traci Billingsley, reached after hours, said she was unable to confirm his arrival there