News Corp - Diplomatic Immunity?

A new piece from my regular contributor:

A key deadline has just passed for new claimants in Hackgate litigation. A few 'Lead Cases' may be selected for first hearings tranche - to establish some common case principles - whilst others may choose to settle their claims with News International/News Group Newspapers (NGN) before their cases are due to come to court c. May 2013.  New case-management rules have now been advised which affect allegations over and above phone-hacking alone (Carter-Ruck):

A prerequisite to joining the Claimant Group is that the claim against NGN must be for a breach of privacy/confidence and/or harassment and/or a breach of the Data Protection Act. The claim does not, however, have to include phone hacking, but may involve a claim for computer hacking or “any other investigative method” (such as surveillance) carried out by NGN.... the vast majority of the claims to date and those in the new Claimant Group relate to phone hacking by the News of the World. However, there may well be claims emerging in the future that allege phone or computer hacking by The Sun, a separate NGN title. In an important decision, Mr Justice Vos ordered that cases against The Sun would also fall within the new Claimant Group. How this will work in practice will be interesting to see as NGN has now admitted many of the phone hacking allegations made against the News of the World but not in respect of The Sun. Claims against The Sun are therefore likely to be more contentious and may not fit neatly into the scheme of the litigation and so Mr Justice Vos has provided a mechanism whereby Claimants with claims which are only against The Sun may ask him for specific directions on how their case should be handled.

It is of course well known that victims include politicians.  Some have settled with NGN already, others are amongst new claimants, and a few have opted not to take any action.  Their names have trickled out into the public domain.  And that in itself is problematic. Their very names invoke our subjective responses, dependent on our likes and dislikes ot them individually or their party affiliations - focusing on WHO induces our gut feelings.  A different emphasis is revealed by looking at WHAT rather than who - what roles, what functions, what Offices of State etc were targeted during the relevant time period.
Looked at from this perspective, it's audacious. It's breathtaking. It's shocking.

a)  Peter Hain, MP (Lab), Leader of House of Commons, Secretary of State fro Northern Ireland, Secretary of State for Wales, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, junior minister Foreign and Commonwealth Office, candidate for Deputy Leader of the Labour Party

b)  John Prescott, MP (Lab), Deputy Prime Minister, Secretary of State for Environment, Transport and the Regions, candidate for Leader of the Labour Party

c)  Peter Mandelson, MP (Lab), European Commissioner for Trade, Minister without Portfolio, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills

d)  Claire Ward, MP (Lab), Member of Select Committee for Culture, Media and Sport

e)  Gordon Brown, MP (Lab), Prime Minister, Cabinet Member, Chancellor of the Exchequer

f)  Chris Bryant, MP (Lab), Minister for Europe, Parliamentary under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Parliamentary Private Secretary to Deputy Leader of the House of Commons, Parliamentary Private Secretary to Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs, member Home Affairs Select Committee

g)  Tom Watson, MP (Lab), Deputy Chair of Labour Party, Assistant Government Whip, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State Minister of Defence, member Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee

h)  Tessa Jowell, MP (Lab), Minister of State Department of Health, Minister of Health Department of Education and Employment, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Paymaster General, Minister for London, Minister for the Cabinet Office

i)  Neil Kinnock, MP (Lab) Leader of the Labour Party, Leader of the Opposition, European Commissioner, Vice-President of the European Commission, Chairman of the British Council

j)  Glenys Kinnock, MEP (Lab) Member of European Council for Foreign Relations, Minister for Europe, Minister of State for Africa and the Unkted Nations

k)  Stephen Byers, MP (Lab), Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, member of Home Affairs Select Committee, Whips Office

l)  David Blunkett, MP (Lab), Secretary for Education and Employment, Home Secretary, Secretary for Work and Pensions.  (Specifically named in Operation Weeting phone hacking charges)

m)  Charles Clarke, MP (Lab), junior Education minister, Minister of State for Education, Home Secretary.  (Specifically named in Operation Weeting phone hacking charges)

n)  Mark Oaten, MP (Lib Dem), Home Affairs spokesperson, candidate for Leader of Liberal Democrat Party

o)  Nigel Farage MEP, (UKIP), Party Leader

p)  Tommy Sheridan co-Convener (Solidarity Scotland), Holyrood MSP candidate, candidate for European Parliament

q)  Martin Salter, MP (Lab), member of Select Committee on Northern Ireland, member of Home Affairs Select Committee, Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Schools Minister,

r)  Denis McShane, MP (Lab), junior Minister for Foreign Office, Minister for Europe

s)  George Galloway, MP (Respect), MP (Lab), Holyrood MSP candidate,

t)  Jack McConnell, MSP (Lab), First Minister, Minister of Finance, Minister for Education, Europe and External Affairs,  Prime Minister's Special Representative for Conflict Resolutions Mechanisms

u)  Boris Johnson MP (Con), Shadow Minister for the Arts, Shadow Minister for Higher Education, Vice-Chairman of the Conservative Party, Mayor of London

v)  Simon Hughes, MP (Lib Dem), Deputy Leader of Liberal Democrat Party, President of Liberal Democrats, candidate for Mayor of London, candidate for Leader of Liberal Democrat Party

w)  Nick Brown, MP (Lab), Chief Whip, Agriculture Minister

x)  Joan McAlpine, MSP (SNP) Parliamentary Aide to First Minister Alex Salmond, member Scottish Parliamentary Committee for Education and Culture

y)  Alex Salmond, MSP, First Minister, formerly SNP MP for Banff and Buchan, (does not confirm or deny that his phone was hacked)

Clearly, the majority of politician victims are Labour and allegedly subject to a variety of illegalities - phone hacking, blagging, computer hacking, burglary. The range of political office holders is remarkable, and includes one Prime Minister and two Scottish First Ministers.  Of course these are just the national politicians. The list does not include others who could also be deemed 'political' eg Alistair Campbell, Cherie Blair, political opponents and defenders of Tommy Sheridan or union leaders such as the late Sir Gavin Laird, Andy Gilchrist and Bob Crowe.

If another nation state had targeted the democratic functioning of the UK in the same way - rather than News Corporation - there would be calls for a United Nations Security Council resolution on sanctions, and their diplomats would be deported.

But we'd best leave it there - for one thing, we're running out of alphabet...

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Alastair Morgan On The Latest Hackgate Revelations

You can contact the author on Twitter @brown_moses or by email at brownmoses@gmail.com

Alastair Morgan On The Latest Hackgate Revelations

In this past week it seems the Hackgate scandal has begun to make comeback, with new claims in the Independent and Evening Standard which have included allegations that the News of the World ordered Southern Investigations to carry out burglaries on their behalf, a police mole at Southern Investigations being exposed by a hacker with links to the News of the World, and other allegations relating to the blackmailing of ministers and MPs using information obtained by Southern Investigations.

This has all been of great interest to Alastair Morgan, whose brother, Daniel Morgan, set up Southern Investigations in 1984 with Jonathan Rees, and was murdered in 1987 after attempting to expose Southern Investigations' involvement in alleged police corruption.  A number of police investigations into the murder were seemingly undermined by the police's close relationship with Southern Investigations, and the latest revelations in the press are linked to the work of a police undercover operative, Derek Haslam, who was supposedly placed at Southern Investigations as part of an inquiry into Daniel Morgan's murder.  Earlier today I spoke to Alastair Morgan about the latest allegations in the press:

What do you think of this quote from Jonathan Rees' video interview in the Independent, re Daniel's murder?

I think that's one of the biggest deceptions of all time.  I don't think any of the senior MET police officers whatsoever cared less about the Morgan murder - they couldn't care less.

I never comment on anything that Mr Rees says.

Do you believe then that Operation Nigeria was just used as an excuse to get a listening probe into Southern Investigations to find out what information they were gathering about the MET and senior officers?

I believe that this was part of the Met’s motivation.

Firstly, Operation Nigeria was carried out behind our backs after a meeting between my former MP (now Lord Chris Smith of Finsbury) and the then Deputy Commissioner John Stevens. My family were not allowed to know what was going on in that inquiry. That alone creates suspicion, given the history of the case up to that time. We also know since the Leveson Inquiry that Lord Stevens (as he is now) says he was not briefed about the evidence of extensive police/media (NoW) corruption that was uncovered during that investigation, despite the fact that Bob Quick - who took over responsibility for that operation from John Yates in January 1999 - wrote a report recommending further investigation and prosecutions for his superior, Andy Hayman. Mr Quick told the Leveson Inquiry that Scotland Yard had refused to provide him with a copy of his report to help him prepare his statement for Leveson. As Deputy Commissioner, John Stevens was responsible for force discipline and, given the evidence of extensive police/media corruption uncovered, he must at the very least have not been in control of his command. The fact that he was coached for his interview for the Commissioner’s post by Neil Wallis and took on a columnist contract for NoW after he left the Met has left  a very bad taste in my mouth. 

At this time, I know of only one instance when the probe deployed in Southern Investigations was used specifically to gather evidence on Daniel’s murder. This took place at a time when police knew they were going to have to close the operation down to make arrests  in an ongoing conspiracy by Jonathan Rees and others (including a serving police officer, Austin Warnes) to plant cocaine on an innocent woman in order to discredit her in a child-custody battle.

Tom Watson MP has called for all Operation Nigeria tapes to be transcribed. What other action do you now think is needed?

This would be very much in the public interest, as would a full judicial inquiry into the police’s handling of Daniel murder.

How does this new information help your call for a full inquiry into Daniel's killing?

Much of the recently publicised allegations only amplify the deeply unhealthy relationship between the Met, NoW and Southern Investigations that became evident during the Leveson inquiry, most specifically in the evidence that NoW interfered with an investigation into Daniel’s murder in 2002, when DCS David Cook and his family were placed under surveillance by journalists from NoW. Since the collapse of the prosecution in March 2011, we have become aware that two witnesses allege that Daniel actually approached NoW with an expose of police corruption shortly before he was murdered. The most recent allegations only underline the need for a full judicial inquiry. 

With new and increasingly serious accusations against Southern Investigations being made all the time do you think it's time for there to be an inquiry in to their activities, including their possible links with the murder of your brother?  If so, what form would you like that inquiry to take?

A full judicial inquiry or a possibly panel of inquiry as in the Hillsborough disaster are the only real options, in my view.

You can read more about the Morgan family's campaign at the Justice 4 Daniel Website, as well as following the campaign on Twitter.

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You can contact the author on Twitter @brown_moses or by email at brownmoses@gmail.com

Recommended Arab Spring And Hackgate Articles Week Ending September 23rd

Here's a round up of some of the more interesting articles you may have missed in the past week:

Arab Spring

The past week has provided us with a interesting selection of articles about equipment and make up of the Syrian opposition, with CJ Chivers starting an excellent series of articles about the DIY weapons being used by the opposition, with part three promising details of the DIY weapons being used by Assad loyalists:

Syria’s Dark Horses, With Lathes: Makeshift Arms Production in Aleppo Governorate, Part I
Syria’s Dark Horses, With Lathes: Makeshift Arms Production in Aleppo Governorate, Part II

Louisa Loveluck examined the lethal consequences of the non-lethal aid provided by a number of countries to the Syrian opposition in What's non-lethal about aid to the Syrian opposition?, and The Rogue Adventurer blog looks at the different RPG-7 projectiles being spotted in Syria.  For my part I've put together a post examining the different types of bombs being used by the Syrian Air Force.

Two studies of the beliefs and motivations of the Syrian opposition are worth taking a look at, first the Institute for the Study of War published an excellent detailed report on Jihadists in Syria, which was followed by The International Republican Institute's survey into the attitudes of opposition members and activists, which pointed to more moderate views among the Syrian oppositions.

One article that caught my eye on Libya was Reuters piece on the attitudes of staff at a hospital towards the Ansar al-Sharia militia, blamed for the violence at the US consulate in Benghazi, but regarded by the staff as protectors of the hospital, Militants or no, Islamist fighters praised at Benghazi hospital.

Hackgate

With the latest accusations levied by the Independent and Evening Standard and promises of more to come it appears the Hackgate scandal might be returning with even worse revelations in the offing.  The BBC put together this helpful chart showing the current arrests by the various Hackgate related police operations, with Slate asking Why Hasn’t Eric Holder Charged News Corp. With Foreign Corrupt Practices?.

More trouble for News Corp was hinted about the Socialist Worker Online asking Did News International order burglary of Hillsborough campaigner’s home?, while Tom Watson MP wrote Rupert Murdoch a letter asking questions about the latest allegations.  Finally, a audio recording of a conversation between Derek Haslem and Ian Hurst was posted online where it's claimed that Southern Investigations blackmailed MPs, Ministers, and the Home Secretary with a suggestion of collusion with Alex Marunchak of the News of the World.


You can contact the author on Twitter @brown_moses or by email at brownmoses@gmail.com

The Milly Dowler Hacking - Part 3: A Short Postscript

The Leveson Inquiry web site is currently doing a summer document dump.  This comprises three categories of documents - additional Legal Submissions, further 'Taken as Read ' material, and Exhibits to previously published witness statements.  The latter are scattered throughout the alphabetical witness evidence listings.

There are several interesting documents in the newly published Exhibits - hat-tip to Tom Watson MP for pointing to Andy Coulson's Severance/Compromise Agreement with News International here - it's worth reading.

But it was another Exhibit caught my attention....

When Bob QUICK gave his evidence to the Leveson Inquiry, he outlined a review he undertook when he was Chief Constable of SURREY Police. He was asked by the MET to look at the Cash-for Honours scandal (Operation Ribble).  Specifically, there were high-level leaks from the investigation to newspapers.  The then Commissioner of the MET, Sir Paul Stephenson, was very concerned that the leaks were coming from Acting Assistant Commissioner John YATES.

QUICK's Report to Stephenson made more than a dozen suggestions, including that YATES should allow his mobile phone and landline billing records to be scrutinised, scoured for calls to newspaper contact numbers, and timings cross-checked against press stories emanating from leaks.  YATES cold response to QUICK's recommendation was to refuse, saying  "he was ’very well (or too well) connected’. When I questioned this remark he emphasised "No Bob - I am VERY well connected".   (p9)

The full (though redacted) report from Bob QUICK to Stephenson is now available - Exhibit BQ2 here.

This was in late 2006, the exact same time of the well-publicised trial and conviction of Clive Goodman and Glenn Mulcaire. How one 'rogue reporter' from the News of the World had hacked mobile phones for stories made headline news and TV coverage.  Ironic then that one of Bob QUICK's other recommendations to Stephenson was that all phone calls between YATES and the press should be monitored and recorded.  QUICK added that

Surpol (SURREY POLICE) is researching the legality of recording options and I will report on these imminently.

Doubly ironic is that QUICK was seemimgly unaware that he had been  impeded by YATES' cold refusal PLUS the force of which he was Chief Constable.  QUICK was relying on legal research from SURREY POLICE - who had known for more than four years that News of the World had illegally hacked and recorded the voicemail of Milly Dowler.

Related Posts
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You can contact the author on Twitter @brown_moses or by email at brownmoses@gmail.com

Operation Tuleta - A Second Look

From a regular contributor:

Things seem to be gearing up for Operation TULETA - the least high-profile Metropolitan Police Service (MET) investigation of the three ongoing as a consequence of the hacking scandal.  The first to start, in Jan '11, was Operation WEETING into phone hacking. It was quickly followed by Operation ELVEDON, looking at newspapers' role in bribery and corruption of police and other public officials.

Operation TULETA was set up later to investigate allegations of computer hacking, interception of emails, stolen phone data etc by journalists, private invetigators and others.  Given MP Tom Watson's view that computer hacking may well turn out to dwarf the scale of phone hacking, it's worth having a closer look at TULETA - what's already in the public domain and what may be to come. A new document dump on the Leveson Inquiry web site last Friday may hold some clues.

Sienna Miller was the first to allege email hacking in her claim against News International and Glenn Mulcaire.  There are more civil litigations for email hacking in the pipeline.  On 19th October 2011, Mark Lewis gave evidence to the Culture, Media & Sport Select Committee.  Paul Farrelly MP asked him (Q1275)

are you aware of any other accessing of information that may have been illegal apart from phone hacking? Is phone hacking the tip of an iceberg? 
...What about computer hacking or reading people’s e-mails?

Mark Lewis: "It seems that voice mail interception or phone hacking is old hat and that the thing to do now with the inquiry agents is to obtain information by way of e-mails. As I understand the technology, one plants a Trojan in someone’s computer by sending them an e-mail that looks innocuous, which then pinches all the e-mails sent out or received and sends them to someone else. I am pursuing a claim. Mr Justice Ross has ruled that it is not going to be part of the voice mail interception claims for a former member of military intelligence, who was subject to, shall we say, a Trojan plant. We know that. That is also subject to a police investigation, so I suppose we have to be very careful, but there is a civil claim for that."

Pressed to clarify by Louies Mensch if this involved only News International titles Lewis added, "in respect of the information that the police are obtaining about another inquiry agent in respect of computer hacking, his clients were from other newspapers."

Some of the impetus for TULETA sprang from the related Operation KALMYK (into allegations of Northern Ireland security force personnel having emails hacked), see Ian Hurst's evidence to Leveson, and Operation MILLIPEDE (which resulted in four convictions).

In essence, computer hacking and email interception via Trojan have been rumoured for years, as has collusion of journalists.  News of the World's Alex MARUNCHAK has been implicated in at least two allegations. Firstly - as far back as 2002 - the surveillance of Dave Cook and Jacqui Hames, both serving police officers. It is alleged that their emails were hacked in an attempt to 'sort out' and derail Dave Cook who was heading the fourth investigation into the murder of Daniel Morgan.
Northern Ireland

Secondly, Ian Hurst's hacked emails relating Northern Ireland intelligence were allegedly faxed to MARUNCHAK at the News of the World offices in Dublin.

The Northern Ireland connection is particularly sinister.  Amongst others, Sir Hugh Orde has been informed by TULETA that his emails may have been hacked when he was Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, as has Peter Hain when he was Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Peter Hain added that "the police confirmed to me they had not eliminated any news organisation from their investigation."

Scotland

Strathclyde Police are investigating (Operation RUBICON) whether Tommy Sheridan's lawyer and a key witness in the Sheridan perjury trial had their emails hacked. Both hard copies and electronic copies of the emails are alleged to have been circulated which name and implicate senior news staff at the News of the World Scotland.

Stolen laptop and phones

Amongst the large Leveson 'taken as read' document dump is a revealing witness statement by Claire Ward, former Member of Parliament.  It makes fascinating reading as she details her treatment by journalists when she was a younger, newly-elected MP - she details alleged harassment, pressurising phone calls, suspected phone interception, and stress-inducing inaccurate press stories. In one instance, she describes a tense phone conversation with Rebekah Wade.  Most startling however (and possibly of interest to TULETA) is that her laptop computer was stolen from a guarded room in Manchester Town Hall in 2001.  She believes it may have been stolen with the possible involvement of the national press. Claire Ward is convinced that her laptop was deliberately targeted as it contained a substantial number of documents relating to Keith Vaz MP.

More recently, TULETA is investigating the possibility that mobile phones may have been stolen to order.  According to Sue Akers,

In April 2012, ...Operation Tuleta officers discovered instances where staff at NI titles appear to have been in possession of material downloaded or otherwise obtained from stolen mobile telephones. It appears from some of the documentation, which is dated around late 2010, that one mobile telephone had been examined with a view to breaking its security code so that the contents could be downloaded by experts (whose identities are unknown to Operation Tuleta at present) in different parts of the country... A significant and important line of enquiry is identifying the experts used...
One mobile telephone theft took place in Manchester and another in South West London.

In addition, TULETA is doing forensic analyses of computer hardware, phones and data "previously seized as evidence in other enquiries." 

There have been a spate of mobile phone and laptop thefts from within the Houses of Parliament, including a laptop theft from Keith Vaz - Chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee.

It is however possible that these thefts are coincidental and entirely unconnected to TULETA issues.

The first TULETA arrest was that of a private investigator and several journalists have also been arrested.  The latest was that of an unnmamed 55yr old man in Cardiff - not known to be a journalist.  He was arrested 'on suspicion of committing offences under the Computer Misuse Act 1990 and Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act.'

Currently, TULETA  is investigating 101 separate allegations of data intrusion, plus other related matters.  The MET will soon be returning to News Corporation's Management Standards Committee with more requests for relevant documents.  Developments in OPERATION TULETA will no doubt help establish if this is (as both Paul Farrelly and Sue Akers both put it) 'the tip of the iceberg'.

Time will tell.

Related Posts
Hackgate for Beginners
Where Now For The Motorman Files?
Hackgate - Major Upcoming Events


You can contact the author on Twitter @brown_moses or by email at brownmoses@gmail.com

Glenn Mulcaire And His Money-Laundering Charges

Another piece by a regular contributor.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) statement on Tuesday on Operation Weeting charging decisions repays careful reading.  Beneath the headline-grabbing decisions to charge eight people, there are details which are quite telling - particularly regarding Glenn MULCAIRE.

All, with the exception of Glenn Mulcaire, will be charged with conspiring to intercept communications without lawful authority, from 3rd October 2000 to 9th August 2006.

Two things here are of note:-

• Firstly, Mulcaire appears to be the sole exception because he has already been convicted of the relevant offences of conspiracy to intercept - as has Clive Goodman.  Mulcaire is however charged with other alleged offences for which he has not previously been convicted, in relation to Milly Dowler, Andrew Gilchrist, Delia Smith and Charles Clarke.
• Secondly, the lengthy span of time defined also covers the period of illegal activity uncovered by Operation Motorman (c. 1999 to early 2004).  This appears to be a clear signal that the Motorman Files are also NOT ruled 'out of court' as being too historical to pursue.  Sue Akers' evidence on Monday to the Leveson Inquiry seemed to concur.  She made reference in her update to quantities of evidential material which have been collated 'from previous enquiries'.  These are likely to include, amongst others, Operations Glade and Caryatid as well as Operation Motorman.  At least three of those now charged by the CPS under Operation Weeting are also named in the leaked and redacted Motorman Files 'Blue Book'.

Giving her evidence to the Inquiry the day before the CPS charging statement, DAC Sue Akers was careful not to name them in advance of the CPS Announcement.  At the time of her evidence, she identified as pending charging decisions 11 current or former journalists, plus 1 non-journalist (para 13).  The only non-journalist in the batch now charged by the CPS is Glenn MULCAIRE.  Akers' statement continued

The non-journalist referred to at paragraph 13, together with a further non-journalist, is on pre-charge bail in relation to money laundering offences till 24 July 2012. A preliminary file is currently with the CPS for advice in respect of this matter.

So it seems the only 'non-journalist' is additionally awaiting ANOTHER CPS charging decision - not under Weeting-style data interception - but for alleged money-laundering. Hmmmmm.... wasn't that how Al Capone was tripped up?  It really doesn't do to mess with Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) through aliases, numerous questionable companies or undeclared income.  In February 2012, Tom Watson raised a relevant query with HMRC regarding the tax arrangements of those in receipt of cash payments from News International

....some of which are reported to run into tens of thousands of pounds, failed to declare this on their Self Assessment tax returns. The company failed to take appropriate measures to ensure the recipients were paying tax...  I would ask you to investigate whether a true record of cash payments was kept by the company, and whether any records have been destroyed...

...Although I appreciate there are currently three ongoing police investigations into criminal wrongdoing at News International, I think it is imperative that reassurance is given from HM Revenue and Customs that these important issues are being investigated in cooperation with the Metropolitan Police. I am sure you will agree that no company, or individual, should be allowed to get away with what amounts to possible tax fraud by paying too little tax and acting in a dishonest manner.

As noted in this Brown Moses blog post, 'Where Now for the Motorman Files', Glenn MULCAIRE (alias 'Paul Williams', alias 'Alexander') ran a company called 'Nine Consultancy Ltd' which was dissolved in Feb '06, according to Companies House records.  He also owned another company called 'Nine Consultancy UK Ltd', dissolved in 2007.  It is to be hoped that he was efficient enough not to get invoices and remittances muddled up in the accounts of these two similarly named businesses.

Another MULCAIRE company 'Eight Consultancy UK Ltd' (Company No. 06280986) wasn't dissolved until 2009. And yet another MULCAIRE company, 'C & E Intelligence Services Limited', employed the non-journalist Alison MULCAIRE (resident at the same address) as Company Secretary.  Glenn MULCAIRE was re-employed by News International when he was released from prison for phone-hacking. At this time, Alison MULCAIRE owned two more businesses: 'Global Intel Services Limited' and 'Euro Research & Information Services Limited'.

No doubt invoices and remittances for any work undertaken will all marry up with payment records of News International Trading Ltd, the company formerly-known-as, until June 2011, News International Supply Co Ltd.

All terribly complex, isn't it. But with the help of electronic records, most business acounts these days are an awful lot better organised than Al Capone's were, aren't they?

You can contact the author on Twitter @brown_moses or by email at brownmoses@gmail.com

More On News Corp Connections To The Police Corruption Arrests

I've just been emailed this on possible News Corp links to today's police corruption arrests

IT'S A SMALL WORLD for Private Investigators

On Thursday 10th Nov '11, the House of Commons Culture Media & Sport Select Committee recalled James Murdoch to give evidence. Tom Watson asked James Murdoch ( Q 1666 ) to provide the Committee with invoices and details of private investigators used by News International. Watson specifically named four individuals - Jonathan Rees,  John Ross, Barry Beardall and ALEC LEIGHTON.

ALEC LEIGHTON is an ex-Detective Inspector of the Metropolitan Police.  He has owned and operated several businesses since his retirement from the Met, largely in the field of private investigations and debt recovery - he has been a Director of at least 12 different dissolved companies.

Notice that, back in 1996, Alec Steven LEIGHTON formed this company:
Mayfayre Associates Ltd
SIC classification code: 7460
SIC classification: INVESTIGATION & SECURITY ACTIVITIES

LEIGHTON's co-Director was another retired Met officer called KEITH HUNTER.  Keith Lindsay HUNTER went on to bigger and better things, including an investigations company called ISC Global (UK) Ltd which caught the eye of anti-corruption operation in 2005.  There were

"Allegations that a British security company with wealthy Russian clients paid a police officer in the extradition unit for sensitive information are being investigated by Scotland Yard.....

Anti-corruption detectives are examining documents detailing the client accounts of ISC Global (UK), a London based security firm at the centre of the investigation. The financial dossier, seen by The Times, shows that ISC was paid more than £6m from off-shore companies linked to the most vocal opponents of President Putin of Russia."

"At a long liquid lunch in Champers Wine Bar in Kingly Street KH [Keith Hunter] talked openly about ‘paying brown envelopes’ to ‘my man at the Yard’."  pp5-9

There was insufficient evidence to prosecute the case. Later, he bought out ISC Global, and changed its name to RISC Management Ltd.

Yesterday, KEITH HUNTER was named, under Parliamentary privilege, in evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee.  It was alleged that he and RISC Management were implicated in bribery and corruption of serving Metropolitan police officers and other public officials.

This morning KEITH HUNTER of RISC was arrested, together with three others....

It's a small world, isn't it....

Possible Links Between News Corp And The Police Corruption Arrests

While digging through various company records a reader of the blog came across some interesting possible links between News Corp and Keith Hunter, one of the police officers arrested over recent claims of police corruption.

During James Murdoch’s November 2011 appearance at the Culture, Media and Sports Committee Tom Watson asked James Murdoch if he was aware of the activities of 3 private investigators that included Alex Leighton.  James Murdoch said he was unaware of the detectives, but was happy to come back to Tom Watson with details, although it seems unclear if he ever did.

Now Alex Leighton used to work for a security company called Mayfayre Security Services Ltd, working as Company Director from 24 August 1996 onwards.

According to records the same company also employed a Keith Hunter as Managing Director from 21 February 1995 to 1 January 1996, which turns out to be the same Keith Hunter arrested today in relation to the police corruption scandal.

So the question has to be asked, why did Tom Watson ask James Murdoch about his knowledge of a man that appears to possibly link News Corp to police corruption claims?

You can contact the author on Twitter @brown_moses or by email at brownmoses@gmail.com