By: E&P Staff First, the FBI swooped in on the closing of the sale last October of Conrad Black's luxury Manhattan apartment and seized $9 million in proceeds. Now, Sotheby's International Realty Inc. is suing the deposed newspaper baron for its half-million bucks in commission on the deal.
In a civil suit filed in Manhattan Friday, the real estate brokerage claims Black has not paid the $557,000 commission it is owed on the sale of the apartment. The apartment sold for $10.5 million. FBI agents seized $9 million on the grounds that Black got the apartment in the first place as part of his alleged massive fraud of Hollinger International, publisher of the Chicago Sun-Times. Another $1 million was held in escrow to pay taxes.
Sotheby says in its lawsuit in federal court that a check issued for the commission was returned marked "payment stopped."
Black's Toronto lawyer, Edward Greenspan, told the New York Post that the commission was supposed to come from the money seized by authorities. "Mr. Black has never received one penny from the sale of his apartment to this day," he said.
Black has pleaded not guilty to federal charges of racketeering and obstruction of justice in the alleged looting of Hollinger International. A trial has been set for March 2007.
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here