The gorier details of the Hollinger Five

For those of you who continue to be interested in the gorier details of the Hollinger Five, last night, a financial Web site called Seekingalpha.com posted the transcript of Sun-Times Media Group’s fourth-quarter earnings conference call with investors and analysts from March 11 of this year. Among the juicier bits: CEO and president Cyrus Freidheim Jr. reports that “During 2007, Mr. Black and his associates were advanced $48 million in legal fees under the company’s indemnification provisions. The company is attempting to recover advancements related to guilty verdicts but must continue to make advancements for their appeals.”

Now, that’s for 2007 alone—and the meter’s still running. As for recovering those advancements related to guilty verdicts, well, that should be interesting.

And, filed under D for “Delicious Ironies,” it is reported that, in a cost-cutting move last year, the Sun-Times shifted its call centre to Winnipeg—which as you know is the seat of the Black family fortune.

• Sun-Times Media Group Inc. Q4 2007 Earnings Call Transcript [Seekingalpha.com]