Man arrested in News of the World phone-hacking scandal

A 71-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of involvement in the News of the World phone-hacking scandal, the Metropolitan Police announced today.

According to the British police force, the man was called in earlier today and arrested when he arrived. So far, the Metropolitan Police have not revealed the identity of the man, but Sky News, which is partially owned by News Corp., is reporting that it could be 71-year-old Stuart Kuttner, a former managing editor of News of the World who left the publication in 2009.

The man has become the latest casualty in what has become an international scandal surrounding News Corp.'s now-defunct News of the World. Over the last several weeks, more details have emerged surrounding claims that employees at the publication illegally hacked phones of victims of crimes to gain information for stories. News of the World has also been charged with deleting victims' voice mails to make room for more messages and bribing law enforcement officials for information.

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The scandal, which was initially believed to be a U.K. problem, spilled over to the U.S. last month, after it was revealed that a private investigator in New York City was allegedly approached by News of the World to hack the phones of September 11 victims. That investigator rejected the offer. However, the Federal Bureau of Investigation last month launched an inquiry into the matter.

Last week, the New York Post became embroiled in the scandal. CNN reported that New York Post employees were ordered by News Corp.'s legal department in a memo to "not destroy, discard, alter, or change any potentially relevant documents." According to CNN, the memo, which was sent to all the paper's employees, related to anything that might indicate that someone "accessed telephone and/or other personal data of third parties without authorization" or "made unlawful payments to government officials in order to obtain information."

The News of the World scandal has also rocked the lives of a host of people at the former publication and at News International, its parent company. Including today's arrest, 11 people have been taken into custody in connection with the scandal, including former News International chief Rebekah Brooks and News of the World editor Andy Coulson.

The man arrested today has been charged with conspiring to intercept communications and corruption. The arrest was conducted by officers of Metropolitan Police's Operation Weeting and Operation Elveden crews, which are investigating the phone hacking and police bribery, respectively.

The Metropolitan Police have declined to comment further on the cases, saying "it would be inappropriate to discuss any further details regarding these cases at this time."