Conrad Black has had much of his assets frozen under a worldwide order issued by a Canadian court, a U.S. newspaper reported Wednesday.

Citing two unnamed sources, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that Justice Colin Campbell of Ontario Superior Court issued the order recently under seal as part of a lawsuit from one of Black's former companies.

Conrad Black faces a fraud trial in March 2007.

The assets of Black's wife, Barbara Amiel Black, were also reported to have been frozen.

The court ruling, called a Mareva order, is meant to prevent a defendant from spending or moving assets that could be owed to creditors or other parties.

Black is scheduled to go on trial in March 2007 in the United States on racketeering and fraud charges, accused of looting millions of dollars from Hollinger International Inc. when he headed the media empire.

The newspaper reported that the Mareva order stemmed from a lawsuit filed last year against Black and others by Toronto-based Hollinger Inc., another of his former companies.

The Mareva order would also give the judge control over Black's spending.