Name firms accused of hacking within 14 days, MPs tell police
Soca must name companies that used corrupt private investigators to break the law

The Serious Organised Crime Agency has refused to name the blue-chip companies it knows commissioned corrupt private investigators to break the law ā but was immediately ordered to do so within 14 days by a committee of MPs.
Trevor Pearce, the agencyās director-general, sparked incredulity when he told the Home Affairs Select Committee that he had not come armed with information on the companies which had hired criminal private investigators ā despite 10 days of revelations in The Independent. During heated exchanges, the head of āBritainās FBIā admitted there were āsome detailsā of other industries besides newspapers involved in hacking that were known to the agency, but he had not brought them with him.
Keith Vaz, the Labour MP and committee chairman, ordered Mr Pearce to provide the details to the committee within a fortnight.
He said: āIn 14 days this committee would like the list of names. We would like to know from you anyone who has not been pursued by the relevant agencies and who these relevant agencies are.ā Mr Pearce and Sir Ian Andrews, the chairman of Soca, were ordered to make an unscheduled appearance before the committee after The Independent revealed last month that the agency had evidence that some of Britainās most respected industries routinely employ criminals to hack, blag and steal personal information on business rivals and members of the public.
A leaked report showed the agency knew six years ago that law firms, telecoms giants and insurance companies were hiring private investigators to break the law and further their commercial interests, yet Soca did next to nothing to disrupt the unlawful trade.
Following The Independentās disclosures, Mr Vaz said that he felt the committee had been āmisled on a number of issuesā during its initial inquiry into the murky world of private investigators last year.
When asked if Socaās investigation had uncovered evidence that companies had employed criminal private investigators, Mr Pearce replied: āThere may well be some details.ā Later he added: āAs to there being a definitive list, I donāt know. I can go away and look.ā
Mr Pearce, a former senior police officer and head of the National Crime Squad, kept referring the committee to the Metropolitan Police, which conducted many of the investigations later reviewed by Soca.
Mr Vaz pointed out the agency had conducted three investigations of its own into private investigators, and warned: āJust passing the buck on to the Met is not going to get anywhere. You must have these names. I find it extraordinary, given that all that has been reported in the newspapers, that you donāt have them.ā
Mr Vaz said he would be raising the matter with Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, the Scotland Yard Commissioner, during an evidence session next week.
Mr Vaz also raised the fact that John Yates, a former Assistant Commissioner at the Met, had told the committee that phone-hacking was confined to āone rogue reporterā in 2009 ā at the very same time other Scotland Yard inquiries were uncovering related criminality on an industrial scale.
Mr Vaz said: āSomeone in the Met must have known about it.ā Mr Pearce replied: āI canāt comment on that⦠This report went to [the Met] in February 2008.ā
Steve McCabe, a Labour MP, later accused Soca of āsitting on a pile of informationā relating to āserious organised crimeā and he found it āastonishing that we are not seeing greater activityā.
Mr Pearce replied: āInformation gets passed to the appropriate agencies⦠I think we are doing as much as we can.ā
Mr Vaz also raised fears that the evidence held by Soca would ādisappear into a great, black hole in the skyā once the agency is abolished later this year.
Mr Pearce replied: āThe characterisation that we have been holding anything back is frankly wrong.ā
After the hearing, Mr Vaz was clear that Soca would be forced to comply with the committeeās request. He said: āThey will be called back before the committee to explain their actions to Parliament. I would be very surprised if they did not comply.ā