It just keeps getting better.

Conrad Black, the disgraced peer and Canadian-born media mogul who now faces a multi-million fraud trial in the United States next March, has been named in letters involving the "cash for peerages" scandal now being investigated by Scotland Yard, according a report in The Observer.

The Tory chairman, Francis Maude, told the Observer that neither Black, nor any of his companies, made donations or loans to the Conservatives. Still, it's no secret that there had been lobbying for his peerage, particularly through Lord Carrington, the former foreign secretary and a board member of Black's Hollinger company, and former Prime Minister Lady Thatcher, who sometimes attended meetings of its advisory board.

The grubby business of the "cash for peerages" affair (here's a tip folks: never stand between a Labor politician and a bag of money) is the latest instalment in the saga of Conrad Black who is the next big fish to face the US justice system.

Which is why Margaret Wente in the Globe and Mail, no doubt out of the goodness of her heart, has asked asked the question: So, Mr. Black, have you considered Cuba?

"Like Mr. Lay, Mr. Black appears supremely confident that his day in court will vindicate him. "I would not be so sure about the fall of the titan," he wrote in an e-mail to my colleague Lawrence Martin a few months ago. "I will win this case and too many people are over-invested in the theory of my permanent downfall." Unfortunately, he lacks even a semblance of Mr. Lay's folksy charm. Will a Chicago jury take to him? What's your guess?
"Mr. Black, too, intends to mount a "there was no evil" defence. He insists that he "did not receive a cent that was not approved . . . and publicly disclosed" or "that was disproportionate to the huge gains that were generated" by him and his management team." Unfortunately, he, too, has someone who has been persuaded to co-operate with the prosecution -- David Radler, who will be allowed to do his time in kinder, gentler Canada in exchange for services rendered.
"It would be wrong, of course, to make much of these parallels. Mr. Black has yet to have his day in court and, in the larger scheme of things, he's just a pipsqueak. The Enron debacle destroyed billions of dollars in market value and thousands of jobs. Mr. Black's alleged fraud amounts to a measly $80-million -- hardly enough to make an ambitious prosecutor get out of bed.
"Yet, with the U.S. justice system in a lynching mood, even the most blameless tycoon might be pondering his options. I hear Cuba's nice. The winters are warm and the cigars are great. There's free health care. And the Americans can't extradite you."

Yep, I guess she's only trying to help and no doubt Mr Black will appreciate the advice. Any other places?