Tom Crone, a former legal executive for Murdoch's News International Group, was the latest arrest in a string of arrests following the illegal phone hacking scandal. Scotland Yard reported the arrest of a "60-year-old man .on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications" as part of their investigation "into the hacking of telephone voicemail boxes." Crone tended to the legal affairs of the News of the World, but quit in July of 2011 after the tabloid's reporters were revealed to have paid private investigators to hack into the voicemail of murdered teenager, Milly Dowler, in 2009, which falsely led police to believe she was still alive (Los Angeles Times). .
During the trial in 2011, Crone testified that he was "pretty sure" he had told James Murdoch, the executive chairman of News International, that he suspected many of the paper's reporters of illegally hacking into personal information. Crone said he relayed the full story, detailing that it was a widespread problem amongst the company and not just one or two "rogue reporters." Murdoch denied ever being informed of the problem (Los Angeles Times).
Additionally, Crone reported that he even advised Murdoch in 2008 to pay off soccer executive Gordon Taylor when Taylor discovered that his phone had been hacked by reporters from News International. Taylor received almost a million dollars to not press charges (Los Angeles Times).
Murdoch spoke out in retaliation to Crone's claims that he had known of the scandal, and blamed Crone for a "culture of cover-up" within the company. According to Murdoch, he knew nothing of the scandal until it was revealed to the public, and that Crone had misled lawmakers (Los Angeles Times). .
The police investigation into News International's illegal actions has spanned years since it was first discovered. To date, more than 70 arrests have been made based on phone and computer hacking, many of whom were media executives and journalists who were eventually released on bail.
