British police arrest 3 in corruption raid

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LONDON, April 19 (UPI) -- British police arrested three people suspected of involvement in public corruption in a raid Thursday morning, Scotland Yard detectives said.

Duncan Larcombe, a former defense editor for The Sun, was arrested at his home in Kent on charges of conspiracy to corrupt and conspiracy to cause official misconduct. Police also arrested a 42-year-old public official for official misconduct and a 38-year-old woman at a house in Lancashire on charges of aiding and abetting official misconduct. Scotland Yard withheld their names.

The Telegraph reported officers searched both homes. The two suspects were taken to the police station in Lancashire for questioning.

Scotland Yard issued a statement following the arrests: "Today's operation is the result of information provided to police by News Corp.'s Management and Standards Committee. It relates to suspected payments to a public official and is not about seeking journalists to reveal confidential sources in relation to information that has been obtained legitimately."

News Corp.'s Management and Standards Committee was created amid last July's phone-hacking scandal uncovered at News of the World, and has been carrying out internal ethics investigations ever since. The Elveden inquiry, the massive phone-hacking investigation, has made more than 50 arrests and with 26 suspects still in custody.