Lord Black's lavish lifestyle and its contribution to his downfall was again laid bare yesterday in details of a $1.25bn (£700m) lawsuit against the disgraced press tycoon.
Hollinger International, the owner of the Daily and Sunday Telegraph, claimed in the 175-page filing that its former chief executive had treated the company as his "cash cow".
Fresh allegations of the Tory peer's largesse include taking a company jet to Bora Bora in French Polynesia, charging Hollinger $90,000 for refurbishing a 1950s Rolls-Royce limousine, and billing the newspaper publisher for $250,000 in charitable donations made in the name of the media tycoon's wife.
"During a prolonged period, the Black group used Hollinger as a cash cow to be milked of every possible drop of cash, often in a manner evidencing complete disregard for the rights of all shareholders," Hollinger said.
Lord Black resigned from Hollinger International, in which he remains the controlling shareholder, last November amid shareholder uproar over $300m in disputed payments to the Canadian-born entrepreneur and his associates.
Hollinger filed a $200m lawsuit against the peer, his affiliate companies and a number of associates in January but added more than $1bn to its claim on Friday after unearthing more evidence to back its allegations of corporate till-raiding.
Rolls-Royce
Hollinger alleges that Ravelston, a company controlled by Lord Black, bought a Silver Wraith Rolls-Royce limousine and spent $90,000 on refurbishing it between 2000 and 2003. Hollinger said it was then charged for the repairs "apparently so that Black and [Lady] Amiel-Black could travel London in classic style without paying for the ride".
Other allegations of misuse of company funds include the accusation that the peer's wife, Lady Amiel-Black, charged Hollinger after tipping the doorman of Bergdorf-Goodman, a luxury clothing store in New York.
"Black billed Hollinger for the cost of numerous personal household staff - including chefs, senior butlers, under butlers, chauffeurs, housemen, footmen and security personnel," Hollinger said.
In other allegations of misuse of corporate transport, Hollinger claims that the former chief executive and his senior colleagues kept two company jets, which were used to fly the peer and his wife to Bora Bora and their homes in London, New York, Florida and Toronto. It also alleges that the planes ferried the former company president David Radler to his holiday home in Palm Springs.
Hollinger states that Ravelston began charging the newspaper publisher for the cost of running the jets.
"Despite Ravelston charging Hollinger $26m in 2003 to provide management services, it also charged Hollinger the cost of ferrying Ravelston employees amongst their residences to and from work," Hollinger said.
Hollinger is suing Lord Black personally for $156.9m plus damages and compensation, and is demanding the return of $1.1m in "unfair and excessive" salary and bonus payments to Lady Amiel-Black, along with damages and compensation.
The lawsuit alleges that Hollinger paid or pledged to pay $250,000 to charities on behalf of the peer's wife, a journalist renowned for her trenchant views espoused in comment pieces in the Daily Telegraph, under the name Barbara Amiel.
She also received $1m in dividends from a company called Black-Amiel Management, a company funded in part by Hollinger, the lawsuit claims.
"There was no legitimate basis for the company to pay Amiel-Black these amounts. Had she not been the wife of defendant Black these amounts never would have been paid," Hollinger said.
Much of the lawsuit is dedicated to describing how $88m in non-compete payments were made to Lord Black and his associates when they sold local newspapers owned by Hollinger, sometimes to newspaper companies controlled by the Tory peer. One transaction culminated in Hollinger repaying itself a multimillion dollar loan due from Lord Black's holding company Hollinger Inc, the lawsuit alleges.
"One motivation for the Black Group's forceful pursuit of 'non-compete' pay ments was simple greed," Hollinger said.
In a lawsuit that contains allegations of money laundering and mail fraud, Hollinger also claims that Lord Black and three associates received $5m in "profit" distribution from new media subsidiary Hollinger Digital in 2000 and 2001.
Hollinger states that its digital unit made a loss of $65m from investments of $190m by the end of last year. The company also claims that Lord Black and his associates received $217m in management fees from Hollinger between 1997 and 2003.
The total damages claim against Lord Black, his affiliate companies and his associates has been ratcheted up by filing the lawsuit under the US racketeer influenced and corrupt organisations statute, a law designed to prosecute organised crime bosses and which permits Hollinger to seek triple damages and lawyers' fees.
Lord Black denies any wrongdoing, and his Ravelston company described the latest lawsuit as "tabloid journalism masquerading as law".