Lord Black of Crossharbour plans to stay silent as his lawyers present an unexpectedly brief defence at his fraud trial.

Edward Genson, the former press baron’s lawyer, told the judge that he would take just two half-days to rebut 11 weeks of prosecution evidence, which concluded yesterday.

In the first public indication that the normally loquacious Lord Black does not plan to testify, Mr Genson said that he had no witness for today and would conclude on Monday.

Lord Black’s apparent decision not to testify suggests that his lawyers believe they have already poked enough holes in the prosecution’s case to win an acquittal. But they may also be wary of subjecting Lord Black to cross-examination about the millions of dollars he and other senior Hollinger executives received in “non-compete” payments.

Lord Black will rely instead on favourable testimony from Joan Maida, his long-time personal assistant, and Ken Whyte, the former editor of the National Post in Canada, which Lord Black set up.

Ms Maida also served on the board of the Black Family Foundation and ordered 150 “Conrad will win!” T-shirts for her boss before the trial.

Mr Whyte, now the editor of Maclean’s magazine in Canada, was first hired by Lord Black to be editor of Saturday Night magazine in the mid-1990s. He is a personal friend of the former Telegraph chairman and employs Barbara Amiel, Lord Black’s wife, as a columnist on Maclean’s.

Lord Black, 62, could spend the rest of his life behind bars and face heavy fines if convicted of looting $60 million from the Hollinger International newspaper empire.

Prosecutors yesterday dropped one of the 14 charges which related to alleged money laundering. Lord Black’s lawyers said they planned to request that the remaining charges be dismissed.

The prosecution sought to end on a flourish yesterday by producing bank statements showing Lord Black’s lavish spending on jewellery and fashion for his wife.

Within days of receiving $8.4 million and $4.3 million payments into the account, Lord Black spent $2.62 million at Graff Diamonds, $80,067 at Balmain, $71,097 at Gaultier, $116,117 at Yves Saint Laurent, and $101,550 at Fendi.

Among the final prosecution witnesses was a New York property expert who told the court that Lord Black was given a $5.5 million discount when he bought a corporate flat on Manhattan’s Upper East Side from the company.

Jonathan Miller said that the flat, which was in Park Avenue, was worth far more than the $3 million Lord Black paid. Lord Black said that he spent $2 million to renovate it.

Mr Miller told the court: “It’s so far beyond where the market level is that it wouldn’t matter if it was renovated or unrenovated — a $3 million price point isn’t realistic.”

Hollinger International paid $3 million for the flat in 1994 for Lord Black to use when in New York — about 60 days a year. Lord Black bought it from the company six years later for the same price. Mr Miller said that it was worth $8.5 million.

On Tuesday night, prosecutors showed jurors CCTV footage of Lord Black carrying 13 boxes of documents out of his office on May 20, 2005.

Shahab Mahmood, a security guard, told the court: “I saw Conrad Black giving some boxes to his chauffeur, who loaded the boxes. It was unusual. I never saw Conrad Black carrying boxes.” Monique Delorme, the comptroller of Hollinger Inc, said that she had stopped staff removing the same boxes earlier in the day.

The trial continues.

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