Jurors in the trial of former media mogul Conrad Black have been told to prepare for closing arguments next week.

The US government’s star witness at former media mogul Conrad Black’s fraud trial testified that he consulted Black on every business deal he made on behalf of the Hollinger newspaper empire.

Media baron Conrad Black signed a contract promising not to compete with a company he himself controlled, an ex-employee of his Hollinger International newspaper empire, who said she sent him a £1.35m (€1.99m) cheque in return, told a court.

Payments totalling $9.5m (€6.9m) that prosecutors say belonged to Hollinger International shareholders went instead to media mogul Conrad Black and four other executives, a company memo showed.

A businessman who steered Conrad Black’s Hollinger newspaper empire through a storm of lawsuits and investigations told a court that the former media mogul “was very knowledgeable” about the finances of the company he is accused of swindling out of £44m (€65m).

As chairman of the far-flung Hollinger newspaper empire, tall, silver-haired, magnificently tailored Conrad Black reigned supreme as one of the world’s most powerful media moguls.

Australian football officials insist they have few concerns over crowd violence, despite being drawn today to face Lebanon in the preliminary rounds of the 2007 Asian Cup.