Conrad Black, the former Hollinger International chairman convicted in July of mail fraud and obstruction of justice, has lost a post-trial bid for acquittal or a new trial.

US District Judge Amy St Eve in Chicago denied the requests by Black and two other former Hollinger executives convicted with him on fraud charges.

Judge St Eve dismissed a fraud charge against a fourth man, former Hollinger general counsel Mark Kipnis.

"Defendants cannot meet their heavy burden," Judge St Eve said in a ruling published yesterday. The sole exception, she said, was one of three mail fraud charges of which Kipnis was found guilty.

The four are scheduled to be sentenced on November 30th. For eight years, Black (63), led the Chicago-based newspaper publisher Hollinger, now Sun-Times Media Group, as its chairman and chief executive officer.

Black and his co-defendants were accused of stealing millions of dollars from Hollinger as they engineered its sale of more than $3 billion in assets between 1998 and 2001.

Randall Samborn, a spokesman for US attorney Patrick Fitzgerald in Chicago, declined to comment on Judge St Eve's decision.

"We will continue to fight for Mark at sentencing, and if necessary, on appeal," Kipnis's lawyer, Ronald Safer of Chicago-based Schiff Hardin said in a statement.

Black resigned as CEO in November 2003 amid allegations of corruption. Two months later, he was fired as chairman. A federal court jury convicted the men on July 13th after a four-month trial.

The jury also acquitted Black on nine other counts. Black and Kipnis are scheduled to be sentenced with former Hollinger vice-president Peter Atkinson and ex-chief financial officer John Boultbee by Judge St Eve. Prosecutors are seeking to jail Black for at least 15 years.