News Corp faces stepped-up FBI probe into bribery allegations

Birmingham Star (ANI) Wednesday 8th February, 2012

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation is facing increased pressure in the United States after the FBI stepped-up its investigations into allegations of illegal bribing activity across the media empire.

The FBI initially examined allegations that News of the World journalists tried to hack the mobile phones of September 11 victims, but later shifted its focus to potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), which is designed to prevent US companies from bribing foreign officials.

The News of the World allegedly made payments to police officers, totalling over 100,000 pounds, The Telegraph reports.

According to the paper, apart from the FBI, America's Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are also carrying out separate investigations into News Corporation, also focussed on violations of FCPA law.

If any one of the three heavyweight authorities judges that News Corp has breached the Act, they will have the power to order a wide-ranging investigation of every single one of News Corp's business units across the globe.

News Corp would have to bear the cost of the probe, expected to exceed 100 million dollars, and could be fined many times that figure if further breaches were found.

Senior executives including James Murdoch, Deputy Chief Operating Officer of News Corp, would also be vulnerable if they authorised bribes or knew about the practice and failed to take action.

According to the report, News Corp has been cooperating with the investigations, but declined to comment on the recent reports. (ANI)