The Federal Bureau of Investigation will look into Russia’s leader in outdoor advertisement, suspecting the former subsidiary of the New York-based News Corp. of graft, the Wall Street Journal said on Monday.
U.S. officials suspect News Outdoor Russia of paying off unspecified officials in order to secure placement of its street billboards, the weekly said, citing sources familiar with the case.
The check is a part of a general corruption probe into News Corp. and all its affiliates, opened after its British tabloids News of the World and The Sun were accused of illegal wiretapping of celebrities and politicians.
News Outdoor Russia denied the allegations on Monday and said that News Corp. was only an investor uninvolved with the company’s operations, Lenta.ru news agency reported.
News Outdoor Russia was created in 2000 by Rupert Murdoch, the billionaire owner of News Corp. In 2011, Murdoch sold his 79 percent of shares in the company for $360 million to a conglomerate of investors including VTB Capital and Alpha Group.
