UK phone hacking probe widens as law firms, oil giants and insurers implicated
MORE than 100 people outside the media have been implicated in the UK's phone hacking scandal as the investigation widens.
LAW firms, oil giants, drug companies, insurers and other sectors have been linked to rogue private investigators accused of phone hacking, telephone intercepts and other offences.
While police relentlessly continue to pursue the media in Britain for offences related to hacking, it has been revealed police have uncovered a list of more than 100 others outside media tied to potential illegal activity.
The police Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) has handed the Home Affairs Select Committee a list of names from 22 law firms, eight financial services companies, 10 insurance firms as well as members from the oil, rail, security, banking and pharmaceutical sectors, debt collectors and even two known celebrities. All have hired the services of the same disreputable private investigators used by the media to uncover information.
Despite police uncovering the links between these people and the rogue private eyes, police have thrown a secrecy clause over their identities. Their identities first came to light during the Leveson Inquiry into media phone hacking but were not included in the final report presented to the government, nor even that there were others outside the media industry even identified.
"The Committee remains concerned that it holds a list that Soca has classified as secret, even though it is evidence given as part of our inquiry," committee chairman Keith Vaz said yesterday after he received the list.
But he added: "This is an important step forward in establishing the facts."
Mr Vaz confirmed five organisations and/or individuals on the list were being investigated. Police have insisted the list be kept secret prompting Mr Vaz to demand to know why.
Soca has said despite identifying organisations and individuals in the media sector linked to private detectives acting unlawfully it was not in the public's interest to identify other sectors in the community.
It has said just because the companies have used the services of these rogue operators did not mean they knew the disreputable operators, linked to phone and computer hacking, blagging and communication intercepts, would necessarily act unlawfully for them to get results.
It added: "The information ... if published might ... substantially undermine the financial viability of major organisations by tainting them with public association with criminality."
It did not feel the same potential to undermine financial viability of media organisations applied.
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