Black severs ties with Hollinger

Embattled former CEO Conrad Black has finally severed all ties with Hollinger International, according to an article in today's New York Post.
Black, who allegedly swindled more than $500 million from Hollinger and is under investigation in the United States and Canada, sent a "retirement" letter to the company, the Post said.
One way in which Black allegedly stole money was through sizable non-compete fees he charged to buyers of the newspapers in Hollinger's U. S. division, American Publishing. Among those charged the non-compete fees were owners of Liberty Group Publishing, when it bought more than 100 newspapers from Hollinger, including The Carthage Press and the Neosho Daily News.
The non-compete money was totally unnecessary since there was little chance Hollinger was going to compete against these newspapers, most of which, like The Press and The Daily, were located in small communities.