US prepares subpoenas in News Corp inquiry: report

News Corp had tried to hack the phones of relatives of 9/11 victims.

As the phone-hacking scandal rages in the UK,the US Justice Department is gearing up to issue subpoenas as part of a preliminary investigation into allegations that media baron Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp had tried to hack the phones of relatives of 9/11 victims.

A government official told the The Wall Street Journal that the investigation concerns alleged foreign bribery and hacking of voice-mail of relatives of 9/11 victims.

Permission to issue subpoenas from senior leadership in the justice department is pending,the official said.

A person close to News Corp. said the preparation of subpoenas is “a fishing expedition with no evidence to support it.”

News Corp team is expecting an inquiry into whether the alleged bribes paid to British police violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act,or FCPA,according to the people familiar with the company’s strategy,The Journal reported.

The law is typically used to pursue charges against companies that bribe foreign officials to give them business contracts.

News Corp.’s team also is anticipating a possible FCPA-related investigation by the SEC,they said.

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The New York-based company also owns Wall Street Journal. Its London tabloid – New of the World – has been closed down.

The UK-based Daily Mirror had first reported the possibility that phones of relatives of 9/11 victims had also been hacked. A separate investigation is expected into the

allegation.

“We have not seen any evidence to suggest there was any hacking of 9/11 victim’s phones,nor has anybody corroborated what are clearly very serious allegations,” a spokesperson for News Corp said.

The story arose when an unidentified person speculated to the Daily Mirror about whether it happened. That paper printed the anonymous speculation,which has since mushroomed in the broader media with no substantiation.