The U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission on Friday sanctioned Canadian attorney Peter Y. Atkinson for covertly diverting to himself US$285,000 in connection with the sale of several U.S. newspapers, Trading Markets reported Friday.

Atkinson, currently incarcerated in Pennsylvania for the same activity, was general counsel and a board member of media holding company Hollinger Inc., of Canada, as well as an executive at Hollinger International of Chicago, now known as Sun-Times Media Group.

The illegal compensation, labelled "supplemental non-competition payments," formed no part of the purchase-and-sale agreements between Hollinger and its newspaper buyers nor were the payments disclosed to investors as required under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

In a negotiated settlement, Atkinson admitted no fault regarding the SEC's allegations, but did not contest the civil charges nor resist the punishment imposed. Punishment included disgorgement of ill-gotten gains as well as disbarment from legal representation before the Commission and prohibition from acting as an officer or director of any public company traded on a U.S. stock exchange.

Atkinson faced similar charges from the Ontario Securities Commission in 2005.