Conrad Black, his former deputy David Radler and Richard Perle, a member of Hollinger International’s executive committee, are already facing an avalanche of civil lawsuits and allegations for alleged looting of Hollinger International Inc.

The Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) accuses former media tycoons of engagement in "fraudulent and deceptive scheme" to take $85m (£46m) from newspaper group Hollinger International which they controlled in the period between 1994 and 2003.

"We’ve known for some time that the office of the U.S. attorney in Chicago has been looking into these matters," Jim Badenhausen, a spokesman for Black, said Wednesday. "We welcome any fair-minded investigation."

Black, who was given the sack as chief executive of Hollinger International over a year ago, is the main hero of a separate lawsuit of Hollinger International for looting more than $400 million from the illegal transactions.

Perle, former chairman of the Pentagon’s Defense Policy Board under President Bush, faces more trouble with law-enforcement agencies. He is not only in one boat with Black and Radler, forced to respond to charges from the SEC and Hollinger International officials, but also had to reveal some black manipulations in the government. In 2003, members of Congress questioned why Perle set up an investment fund in homeland-security technology after the Sept. 11, 2001 and took consulting jobs from other companies while serving as Pentagon’s chairman.
``I was blown away by it,’’ was Perle’s expressive remark.