Extradition from Canada—Failure to Appear in Chicago

The fraud case surrounding Lord Conrad Black keeps getting more and more interesting. Lord Black’s co-defendants, Jack Boultbee and Peter Atkinson both failed to appear for their scheduled arraignment this morning.^[1] Mr. Atkinson has apparently notified federal prosecutors that he would appear for his arraignment tomorrow, alongside Lord Black, for which he received permission.^[2]

Mr. Boultbee’s absence, however, is not as easily explained. According to Assistant US Attorney Robert Kent, a lawyer purporting to represent Mr. Boultbee left a voice mail saying that Mr. Boultbee would not appear for his arraignment because he was attending to “unspecified” personal matters; Mr. Boultbee’s Toronto-based lawyer had no comment on the matter.^[3] Federal prosecutors will wait a few days before initiating extradition proceedings against Mr. Boultbee, who is a Toronto native.^[4]

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[1] Andrew Stern, Former Hollinger Execs Fail to Answer Fraud Charges, Reuters, Nov. 30, 2005, available here.
[2] Id.
[3] Id.
[4] Id.