Judge makes Conrad Black wait for decision

A JUDGE has asked for more thorough financial information from former media tycoon Conrad Black before she decides whether to allow him to return to Canada.

Lord Black was in court yesterday after being released from a United States jail on two million dollars' bail. He walked free from the minimum-security prison in Coleman, Florida, on Wednesday after serving two years and four months of a six-and-a-half-year sentence for defrauding investors out of millions of dollars.

District Judge Amy St Eve in Chicago yesterday ordered him to surrender his passport and return to court on 16 August.

The 65-year-old former head of the Hollinger International was convicted of defrauding shareholders out of $6.1 million (4m). He was also convicted of obstruction of justice.

Hollinger International once owned the Daily Telegraph and hundreds of papers in the US and Canada.

Black renounced his Canadian citizenship to become a member of the House of Lords and was known for a grand lifestyle.