Criminal gang with links to the City ‘targeted more than 100 VIPs including BBC’s Chris Mason

More than 100 VIPs including the BBC’s Chris Mason, ex-Chancellor Philip Hammond and football chief Michel Platini were targeted by a criminal gang with alleged links to the City of London, a bombshell report claimed last night.

The so-called ‘hack-for-hire’ network is alleged to have hacked the private email accounts of a string of British politicians, Government officials, journalists and businessmen, according to a joint investigation by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and The Sunday Times.

Mr Mason was allegedly targeted in May, just three weeks after he was announced as the Corporation’s political editor.

Meanwhile, Mr Hammond was allegedly targeted after Sergei Skripal and his daughter were poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent by Russian agents in Salisbury in 2018, the organisations claimed.

Mr Mason was allegedly targeted in May, just three weeks after he was announced as the Corporation’s political editor. Meanwhile, Mr Hammond was allegedly targeted after Sergei Skripal and his daughter were poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent by Russian agents in Salisbury in 2018, the organisations claimed

The former head of European football Michel Platini was allegedly hacked just before he was going to speak to French police about corruption claims in relation to the World Cup in Qatar

The former head of European football Michel Platini was allegedly hacked just before he was going to speak to French police about corruption claims in relation to the World Cup in Qatar.

Elsewhere, the president of Switzerland Ignazio Cassis was allegedly hacked after he met Boris Johnson and Liz Truss to discuss Russian sanctions.

And Ms Truss’s chief of staff Mark Fullbrook was said to be another high-profile victim, while the emails of Formula One motor racing bosses Ruth Buscombe and Otmar Szafnauer were also allegedly broken into.

Elsewhere, the president of Switzerland Ignazio Cassis was allegedly hacked after he met Boris Johnson and Liz Truss to discuss Russian sanctions

And Ms Truss’s chief of staff Mark Fullbrook was said to be another high-profile victim

Former Tory Cabinet minister David Davis dubbed London ‘the global centre of hacking’.

He told The Sunday Times: ‘It paints a grim picture of a network of criminal hacking that threatens justice and privacy here in the UK and across the world.’