Media Roundup: It Wasn't A Good Time

More details of the Bora Bora trip were in the overnight reports on the Conrad Black trial, along with some items from Darren Sukonick's initial direct destimony:

1. From the Chicago Tribune's Rudolph Bush, an article that contains an excerpt from an E-mail describing the Bora Bora trip, in which Mr. Black "wrote a friend that he and his wife, Barbara Amiel Black, felt like 'geriatric freaks' surrounded by honeymooners, and that he nearly drowned while snorkeling because of a case of bronchitis." Another E-mail that was read in the trial stated that Mr. Black wanted to reach "'a degree of accommodation with contemporary norms'" with regard to executive perks. The article also notes that the videotaped testimony of Csr. Sukonick has begun, and describes the first excerpted E-mail to be "light-hearted."

2. The Hamilton Spectator's "Business Briefs" contains a brief summary of the end of Fred Creasey's testimony, in the "Justice" section.

3. From 680 News, a brief summary of Darren Sukonick's testimony of what he saw in the CanWest deal, with the note that "[p]rosecutors expect Sukonick's video testimony to last for the rest of the week and be mixed with that of other witnesses." It also contains two sentences on the testimony about the trip.

4. The Globe and Mail's Paul Waldie's report on the Bora Bora flight starts off with this sentence: "For a trip that reportedly cost nearly $600,000, Conrad Black sure had a lousy time when he visited Bora Bora in 2001." It also contains more details from Mr. Black's E-mail about the trip, along with a paper trail associated with a half-week at the opera, and Peter Atkinson's worries about Mr. Black's perks, as expressed in his E-mails. (It may have been those same E-mails quoted in the prosecution's evidentiary proffer.) Mr. Waldie's article also notes that Mr. Black was assessed the entire cost of the trip as a taxable benefit, but does not say that this assessment was what "paying half" meant. (Canada's income tax rate at Mr. Black's level is about 50%, if both federal and provincial income tax rates are included.)

5. The second half of an updated Bloomberg report, by Andrew Harris and Thom Weidlich, is devoted to a report on Csr. Sukonick's testimony. It contains a discussion in which Mr. Atkinson described the personal non-compete payments as bonuses, structured in the former way to avoid Canadian income taxes.

6. The Kansas City Star has an AP-Wire summary of Mr. Creasey's final day of testimony.

7. The same write-up has been webbed by both Accountancy Age and Financial Director. It contains an item from Mr. Creasey's redirect, in which he confirmed that no documentation existed to justify Jack Boultbee receiving a non-compete payment.

8. From the Montreal Gazette, a report by Peter Brieger which states that Mr. Black initially had no intention of paying any of the cost of the trip. It start with: "When Conrad Black heard he might have to pay for a controversial flight to Bora Bora, the media baron was not impressed." [The National Post has a more detailed write-up from the same author.]

9. The Ottawa Sun has an uncredited abridgement of Romina Maurino's report on Mr. Creasey's final testimony.

10. Rick Westhead of the Toronto Star has the most detailed report on the Bora Bora mess. Along with copious quotes from Mr. Black's E-mails relating to the trip and how it was to be accounted for, it also details David Radler's concerns about the whole matter. In addition, it notes a question asked by Eddie Greenspan asking why the entire cost of the trip was declared as a taxable benefit when it was orally agreed that Mr. Black would "pay half." Mr. Creasey replied, "'I don't recall what I thought'" at the time.

11. The report on the trip testimony by the Chicago Sun-Times' Mary Wisniewski notes that the plane stopped off at Honolulu, where Hollinger International did have business interests.

12. Another report by Mr. Waldie relays Csr. Sukonick's testimony about his arrangement of the CanWest non-compete payments.

13. The Times Online also has a report, with lots of details on the trip too. At the end, it mentions the 13 boxes that the prosecutors expect to comb through soon; they're related to an obstruction-of-justice charge.