Black faces more allegations over his finances

A private investigator has accused convicted fraudster and former media mogul Conrad Black of hiding money by moving around £27m (€40m) between accounts across the world.

Juval Aviv, president and chief executive of Interfor, a private investigations firm based in New York, made the claim in a sworn affidavit filed with the Dirksen Federal Courthouse in Chicago on Wednesday.

Mr Aviv was investigating the finances of the 62-year-old former owner of the Daily Telegraph and once-powerful chief executive of the Hollinger newspaper empire, on behalf of Hollinger Inc.

Last month, Lord Black of Crossharbour was convicted along with three others of swindling Hollinger International shareholders out of more than $6m (€4.3m) of their money.

In the court papers, Mr Aviv said: “During the course of my investigation, I have been informed by several reliable, independent (from each other) sources that Conrad Black has been moving significant amounts of monies around the world from 2005 to the present.

“In particular, much of this money has either gone through or is currently domiciled in Gibraltar.

“The estimates I have received regarding the amount of money vary widely, but several sources have all told me the same amount, namely approximately €40m in Gibraltar.

“These funds have gone through financial institutions in Luxembourg, the Caribbean, the UK and Channel Islands from 2005 to present.”

Judge St Eve cited a possibility the Canadian-born Black could try to stay in his native country and then fight extradition to the US.