Two more arrests in police payments probe

23 October 2012

A serving member of the armed forces and a former Ministry of Defence employee have been arrested as part of a police probe into corrupt payments to public officials.

Operation Elveden, a spin-off from Operation Weeting, which investigated the phone hacking scandal, is looking into allegations of that police and public officials received "inappropriate" payments from journalists in return for information or access.

The armed forces member, a 31-year-old male, was arrested along with the female former MoD worker, 34, in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, at 6am on 23 October.

The woman is being interviewed at a local police station on suspicion of misconduct in a public office and suspected corruption. The man is being held on suspicion of money laundering and aiding and abetting misconduct in a public office.

The arrests are said to have come after information was provided by News Corporation's management and standards committee.

The two are not the first Ministry of Defence employees or members of the armed forces to be arrested as part of the probe, and a total of 52 individuals have now been arrested.