WILMINGTON, Del., Feb. 20 (UPI) -- Media mogul Conrad Black told a Wilmington, Del., court Friday he has been defamed and unfairly labeled as an embezzler.
"I am trying to retrieve my reputation as an honest man," Black was quoted as saying by Canadian Broadcasting Corp.
He said he had been "horribly defamed and in fact characterized and stigmatized as an embezzler."
Black wants to sell his stake in media company Hollinger International Inc., but other members of the Hollinger board oppose him. At stake are the company's newspaper holdings, including the Chicago Sun-Times, Jerusalem Post and The Daily Telegraph of London.
Also Friday, Black's lawyers introduced documents they said counter charges he took unauthorized payments from Hollinger International.
A day earlier, Richard Breeden, former chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, described Black as a bully who threatened lawsuits against members of the committee looking into Hollinger's alleged financial improprieties.
