It wasn't that long ago that Conrad Black, who next year stands trial for fraud and plundering Hollinger International, was claiming that he wasn't a crook but a freedom fighter.

His self-delusion has continued with Lord Black of Crossharbour comparing himself to a French aristocrat during the Revolution, reports Bloomberg.

According to the document detailing the prosecutors' case against Black and other defendants, Black defended his spending of the company's money. "I am not prepared to re-enact the French Revolutionary renunciation of the rights of nobility,'' he said.

Black said it was only fair. After all, the "beleaguered" company owners deserved nothing less, reports BusinessWeek. "We have to find a balance between an unfair taxation on the company and a reasonable treatment of the founder-builder-managers. We are proprietors, after all, beleaguered though we may be."

For more details about the allegations, including those lucrative "non-compete'' agreements, check this Chicago Tribune report. And for snippets about his spending habits, read the Toronto Star .

Funded by Hollinger shareholders, the goodies included the $565,000 trip that he and his wife Barbara Amiel took to Bora Bora, and the $54,000 birthday party for Lady Black.

This will be one hell of a trial.