FBI’s News Corp. 9/11 Probe Moves Forward

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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-29/news-corp-web-hacking-9-11-victim-probe-by-fbi-said-to-be-in-early-stage.html

The FBI is in the initial stage of a probe of News Corp. (NWSA) as investigators evaluate whether U.S. charges can be brought over claims employees hacked into a rival’s website and sought access to phone records of victims of the 9/11 attacks, a person familiar with the matter said.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation will let Scotland Yard take the lead on a parallel investigation already under way in Britain, said two law-enforcement officials familiar with the matter.

The bureau isn’t planning to mount an aggressive investigation into allegations that News Corp.’s payments to U.K. police officers a decade ago violated a U.S. overseas bribery law, said the officials, who didn’t want to be identified because they aren’t allowed to discuss the U.S. Justice Department’s investigation.

“If the conduct largely relates to payments made to the U.K. police, it is quite probable that the U.S. would defer to the strong enforcement regime in the U.K.,” said Angela Burgess, a partner at the law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP in New York. “If there are U.S. victims or a greater U.S. nexus, a broader U.S. investigation is more likely.”