There was an economist, an ex-diplomat and a former governor. The economist didn’t read what she received, the diplomat “missed” what was written and the governor just “skimmed”. And this was the audit committee —the so-called more “active” directors. On the same board there was the director who was a convicted felon; the director who pleaded guilty to mail fraud and faces 29 months in prison; the director who once headed a company that pleaded guilty to price fixing; and the director who never showed up. No, it’s not a board put together by Tony Soprano or Meyer Lansky. It was called Hollinger International.
U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald brought a long list of criminal charges against Conrad Black in 2005. With its astonishing testimony this past week at his trial, the Hollinger audit committee pretty much indicted itself.