Skip to main content

News International offices searched as four more men are arrested

 

Four men, including a serving police officer, have been arrested in connection with Scotland Yard's investigation into payments to police officers by journalists. Police are also carrying out searches of the News International offices in Wapping, east London, and the homes of the four people. A 29-year-old serving police officer was arrested at his place of work in central London on suspicion of corruption and misconduct in public office. The officer, of the Met's territorial policing unit, is the second police officer to be arrested under the Operation Elveden investigation. A 48-year-old man and a 56-year-old man were arrested at their homes in Essex. Another man, aged 48, was held at his home in north London. All three were arrested on suspicion of corruption and aiding and abetting misconduct in public office. Scotland Yard said the arrests were made following information provided by News Corp's own investigation team. Rupert Murdoch set up the management and standards committee in July following the escalation of the phone-hacking scandal. According to well-placed sources, it has been conducting a forensic analysis of payments by all journalists between 2000 and 2006. A statement from the Met police said: "The arrests were made between 06.00 and 08.00 by officers from Operation Elveden, the MPS [Metropolitan police service] investigation into allegations of inappropriate payments to police. "The home addresses of those arrested are currently being searched, and officers are also carrying out a number of searches at the offices of News International in Wapping, east London. These searches are expected to conclude this afternoon. "Today's operation is the result of information provided to police by News Corporation's management and standards committee. It relates to suspected payments to police officers and is not about seeking journalists to reveal confidential sources in relation to information that has been obtained legitimately." All four men were being questioned at police stations in Essex and London, police said. Twelve people have so far been arrested under Operation Elveden. The operation is being supervised by the Independent Police Complaints Commission, and is being run in conjunction with Operation Weeting, the MPS inquiry into the phone hacking of voicemail boxes. It was launched after officers were handed documents suggesting that News International journalists made illegal payments to police officers. Others questioned as part of the inquiry include the former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks, the ex-Downing Street communications chief Andy Coulson, the former News of the World managing editor Stuart Kuttner, the paper's former royal editor Clive Goodman, the former News of the World crime editor Lucy Panton and the Sun district editor, Jamie Pyatt. Brooks and Coulson are both former editors of the News of the World, which was closed in July at the height of the hacking scandal following revelations that the murdered teenager Milly Dowler's phone was hacked. Deborah Glass, the deputy chair of the Independent Police Complaints Commission, said: "It will be clear from today's events that this investigation is following the evidence. "I am satisfied with the strenuous efforts being made by this investigation to identify police officers who may have taken corrupt payments, and I believe the results will speak for themselves."

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Daniel Bailey has been told to pay up £194,370 by a court. If he fails to hand over the money within six months, he will face a three-year jail term.

Daniel Bailey (35) avoided prison when he received a 26-week suspended sentence after pleading guilty to producing cannabis. But following a separate investigation into his finances by police, he has been told to pay up £194,370 by a court. If he fails to hand over the money within six months, he will face a three-year jail term.During a hearing brought by police under the Proceeds of Crime Act, Lincoln Crown Court was told officers swooped on Bailey's home, near Spalding, on August 5, 2005. They searched the property and found 22 cannabis plants growing among the flowers in his back garden.More cannabis seedlings were discovered in a shed, and two small lumps of the drug were seized in the house.Bailey was subsequently convicted of production of cannabis, which triggered the probe into his financial affairs.The further enquiries showed that in the six years before his arrest, Bailey had claimed incapacity benefit and income support to the tune of more than £21,000, to which he was...

Vanessa and Juan Bedoya, Meneses and Rodriguez-Jimenez are being held in DuPage County Jail in lieu of $1 million bond each.

Vanessa Bedoya, 37, and Juan Bedoya, 38, both of the 1400 block of Green Oak Trail, Aurora, were charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver.Juan Meneses, 32, and Gonzalo Rodriguez-Jimenez, 38, both of the 800 block of Amli Court, Aurora, were charged with unlawful delivery of a controlled substance, the Kane County state's attorney's office said.According to prosecutors, on March 25, Rodriguez-Jimenez and Meneses delivered more than 900 grams of cocaineto another unnamed person. Later, more than 900 grams of cocaine were recovered from Juan and Vanessa Bedoya, who are married. The cocaine was recovered at the home of Francisco Bedoya, 36, also of the 1400 block of Green Oak Trail, Aurora. In addition, more than 900 grams of cocaine was recovered in the home of Juan and Vanessa Bedoya, prosecutors said. Officers searched three Aurora homes Tuesday and found 15 kilograms of cocaine, worth about $4.5 million, along with $50,000 in cash and two vehicle...

Philip Doo (52), Christopher Wiggins (42) and David Mufford (44) were brought before a special sitting of Clonakilty District Court on Saturday night

Philip Doo (52), Christopher Wiggins (42) and David Mufford (44) were brought before a special sitting of Clonakilty District Court on Saturday night amid tight security. A force of up to 30 gardaí, including detectives armed with Uzi submachine guns, surrounded the courthouse.The three men, all from Britain, were charged that on November 5th, 2008, on the vessel Dances with Waves , a ship not registered in any country or territory, they had possession of cocaine knowing it was intended to be imported illegally.The offence, which is contrary to Section 34 (2) (4) of the Criminal Justice Drugs Trafficking Act 1994, carries a maximum penalty upon conviction at Circuit Court level of a a fine or seven years in jail or both. Det Garda Ronan Cowley of the Garda National Drugs Unit gave evidence of arrest, charge and caution in relation to Mr Doo, of Rocklands House, Higher Manor Road, Brixham, Devon, and told the court that Mr Doo did not wish to reply to the charge after caution.Det Garda ...