Toppled media tycoon Conrad Black pleaded not guilty last night to charges he defrauded shareholders of newspaper publisher Hollinger International by siphoning $84 million in fees from asset sales and misusing company perks.
Judge Amy St Eve of the US District Court accepted the 61-year-old Black's not guilty plea to eight fraud charges and ordered him released - on the stipulation that he travel only between the United States and Canada.
She told him while there was no bond he would be fined $20 million if he failed to show up for subsequent hearings. Mr Black agreed to be extradited if he fails to appear.
He also signed an affidavit requiring him to put up the equity in his Palm Beach, Florida home and the previously seized proceeds from his New York apartment sale to secure his release.
Dressed in a blue suit and silver tie, the Canadian-born British citizen and member of the House of Lords stood quietly before the judge and answered questions politely.
Last week at a Toronto book launch party, Mr Black lashed back at prosecutors and predicted he would be vindicated in what he termed a "massive smear job from A to Z."
He had been fingerprinted and photographed prior to the hearing and asked the usual questions required of federal defendants, said his lawyer Ed Greenspan.
The judge gave Mr Greenspan, who is Canadian, a waiver so he could represent Black in the trial. Mr Greenspan told reporters his client expected to be acquitted and reclaim the $8.5 million seized by FBI agents last month from the sale of his New York apartment on Park Avenue.
Asked when the trial might start, Mr Greenspan said he did not know but added there were many documents to review and depositions to take.
Mr Black, who resigned under pressure as Hollinger's chief executive in 2003, could face up to 40 years in prison and owe millions of dollars in fines and restitution. He also faces several civil suits demanding hundreds of millions of dollars.