[JURIST] Judge Amy St. Eve [official profile] of the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois [official website] denied a motion Monday for a mistrial in the prosecution of Canadian-born former media mogul Conrad Black [CBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive] on fraud charges. John Boultbee, a former associate of Black and his current co-defendant, requested a separate trial from Black in addition to the motion for a mistrial in Black's case. Both pleas were rejected.

Boultbee, the former CFO of Hollinger International [official website], stands accused of illegally diverting more than $80 million from Hollinger and its shareholders during Hollinger's $2.1 billion sale of several hundred Canadian newspapers. Two years ago, Boultbee joined [JURIST report] Black, former legal executive Mark Kipnis, and former VP Peter Atkinson in pleading not guilty to fraud charges [JURIST report]. A fifth defendant, former Hollinger President David Radler [Wikipedia profile], pleaded guilty to the charges and agreed to testify [JURIST report] for the government. AP has more.