Canadian-born magnate could face more than 100 years in prison if convicted Media tycoon's lavish lifestyle is unlikely to win sympathy from jurors, writes Denis Staunton

When jury selection began this week in the Chicago trial of Conrad Black on fraud and racketeering charges, a number of potential jurors made clear that they are not impressed by wealth or position. When they heard about the tens of millions of dollars the former media mogul made each year, some expressed doubt that such wealth could be earned legitimately.

"That's a lot of money. I would want to know the details of how and why they received it. I might not believe it. CEOs and CFOs are overpaid," one woman said.

At one stage on Wednesday, judge Amy St Eve had to remind potential jurors that earning a lot of money is not in itself a crime.

The jurors' responses were an ominous sign for Black because, although the trial centres on allegations that he defrauded shareholders, jurors will also be passing judgment on his notoriously lavish lifestyle.

As the owner of the world's third-biggest newspaper empire, which included the Daily Telegraph and the Jerusalem Post, Lord Black of Crossharbour was a larger than life figure who lived in the grandest style.

He spent $2 million (€1.5 million) on a birthday party for his wife, Barbara Amiel, flew in private jets on vacations in such exotic resorts as the French Polynesian island of Bora Bora and spent more than $9 million on memorabilia of his hero, former US president Franklin J Roosevelt.

He claimed much of the cost of these indulgences in expenses from Hollinger International, the Chicago-based company that controlled his newspaper and prosecutors claim that Black and his three co-defendants unlawfully siphoned off more than $80 million from the company.

The Canadian-born magnate, who faces charges including fraud and money laundering, could face more than 100 years in prison and massive fines if convicted.

Black anticipated the jurors' lack of sympathy last year when he argued that he could not get a fair trial because a typical Chicago juror "does not reside in more than one residence, employ servants or a chauffeur, enjoy lavish furniture, or host expensive parties".

In fact, few people anywhere have enjoyed a life as colourful, outrageous and tragicomic as Black's and few corporate fraud trials have evoked such public fascination.

Born into a wealthy Canadian family 62 years ago, Black dabbled in a number of businesses before he started his newspaper empire with a few local papers. Black hit the international big time when he bought the Daily Telegraph in 1985. It was this acquisition that opened the door into a political and social elite that intrigued him.

He renounced his Canadian citizenship in 2001 after the Canadian government refused to allow him to accept a British peerage and stuffed the board of Hollinger with such powerbrokers as former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger and former White House adviser Richard Perle.

As Black's legal troubles have deepened in recent months, he has taken the first steps towards reclaiming his Canadian citizenship and he now describes his native country as a haven from his troubles.

Black and Amiel became eccentric fixtures on London's social scene, giving expensive, celebrity-filled parties and promoting their conservative political views in his publications. Unlike many press barons, Black did not pressure his editors to adopt a particular line but often wrote letters to his own papers criticising reports and editorials.

In November 2003, an internal inquiry found that Black had received $7 million in unauthorised funds from Hollinger and he resigned as its chief executive. A few months later, he was forced out as chairman and Chicago prosecutors started investigating his activities.

The first criminal charges came in November 2005, with star prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, who this month succeeded in convicting former White House aide Lewis "Scooter" Libby, leading the attack.

The chief prosecution witness will be David Radler, who was Black's right-hand man for 30 years but has agreed to testify against his former boss in return for a lenient sentence that he will be allowed to serve in Canada.

Prosecutors hope that Radler, who is known to keep detailed notes and to retain every document, will outline in detail how the alleged scheme to siphon off money worked and how Black and others kept information from company directors.

Prosecutors will also point to an internal company report that described Black's management as a "corporate kleptocracy" and will call several former Hollinger directors as witnesses.

Black's lawyers will seek to portray Radler as an unreliable witness who is seeking to blame Black in order to exonerate himself. They will argue that, as the executive in charge of operations in Chicago, Radler himself bears most responsibility for any wrongdoing.

Throughout his fall from grace and the prelude to this week's trial, Black has continued to live a public life, promoting his biography of Roosevelt and preparing for the launch of a new book on Richard Nixon.

Writing last week in the National Post, once part of his stable of Canadian newspapers, he was defiant, proclaiming his innocence and predicting that the Chicago jury will acquit him.

"Barbara and I go now to try these issues at the bar of Abraham Lincoln and Clarence Darrow, in the city that I have long regarded as the great, brave heart of America. We have survived the 'shock and awe' campaign of intimidation, defamation and asset seizures.

"We built a great company that our accusers have destroyed to their own profit, as they have been sumptuously paid to obliterate over a billion dollars of shareholder market value. We acted lawfully and are not afraid," he wrote.