TORONTO — U.S. prosecutors have changed their indictment against former newspaper tycoon Conrad Black, including additional charges of tax evasion, Black's Canadian lawyer said Thursday.

Edward Greenspan said he had not yet seen the indictment, but it contains new charges of evading taxes to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service and changes in some of the prior charges.

"It has been our position from the very outset that the prosecutor has a weak case and that we will be vindicated at the trial," Greenspan said.

"Adding even more unfounded charges doesn't make the prosecutor's case any better."

Earlier this month, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald asked a Chicago court to increase Black's $20-million US bail and force his wife to reveal her financial statements under oath. The judge bumped the bail to $21 million.

Fitzgerald insisted the remedies were necessary because the Canadian-born Black was "lying'' about his true financial position, an accusation Black has vehemently denied.

Judge Amy St. Eve increased Black's bond, saying his initial accounting of his finances for the court was too low and that higher bail was needed.

Black, who once headed the Hollinger Inc. media empire that included Canada's National Post newspaper and the Daily Telegraph of London, is facing charges that he plundered millions of dollars from U.S.-based operating company Hollinger International Inc.

He has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled for trial next March.

Former Hollinger executives Jack Boultbee, Peter Atkinson and Mark Kipnis, along with Ravelston Corp., the private Canadian corporation that Black had used to control Hollinger Inc., are also fighting criminal charges.

David Radler, for many years Black's top lieutenant and business partner, pleaded guilty last September to mail fraud and agreed to co-operate with U.S. authorities. He received a 29-month sentence in the plea bargain and agreed to pay $250,000 US fine.

Greenspan said the additional charges against Black are contained in what is known as a superseding indictment, which goes before a U.S. grand jury and replaces the earlier indictment.

"The American prosecutors have a tendency in a lot of cases to have superseding indictments, which is unfamiliar in Canada.

"Our police investigate and then charge. It appears that the U.S. Attorney's role in Chicago is to charge and then investigate, which can be the only explanation for superseding indictments.''

Black's lawyers have until Aug. 25 to post $1 million in cash to increase his $20 million bond. The remaining $20 million of the bond is secured by $30 million in Florida real estate owned by Black.

Black and several of his long-time associates have also been hit with a major lawsuit by Toronto-based Hollinger Inc. which seeks more than $700 million for alleged activities dating back to the 1990s.

The publicly traded holding company, which Black formerly controlled as dominant shareholder, chairman and chief executive officer, disclosed in July that it is seeking $500 million for alleged breach of contract, conspiracy, negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, unjust enrichment and unlawful interference.

The suit, filed with the Ontario Superior Court in Toronto, also demands additional damages of $200 million US.

In addition to Black, the action names his wife, Barbara Amiel-Black, Radler, Boultbee and Atkinson, and Ravelston Corp.