Black duped me, says ex-ally

ONE of Lord Black's staunchest boardroom allies has turned against him, claiming he was duped by the former publisher of the Daily Telegraph.

Richard Perle, a leading Pentagon official in the Reagan administration and an adviser to President Bush, was a director at Black's Hollinger International.

He claimed Black duped him into rubber-stamping transactions that resulted in more than £250m vanishing from Hollinger's coffers.

An internal company report last week accused Black and other board members of 'corporate kleptocracy'.

Perle said: 'As the report shows, critical information was either not revealed or obscured as matters were presented to the audit and executive committee and the full board of members.'

Hollinger may merge or sell assets in its new media arm as part of a review of the business. The shamed Press baron was last week accused of looting £220m from the former parent of the Telegraph newspapers.