Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Greg #Miskiw lives in Delray Beach..and now under arrest.


A former News of the World editor cited Tuesday during British Parliamentary hearings lives in a tropical hideaway in downtown far from the uproar spreading throughout Rupert Murdoch's media empire, The Palm Beach Post has learned.

Ihor "Greg" Miskiw, a former news editor of the notorious, now-defunct Sunday tabloid, rents an apartment on Gleason Street. The Old Florida-style building, framed by palms and ficus hedges, is just off trendy Atlantic Avenue, blocks from the beach.

News reports say police want to talk to Miskiw about the burgeoning phone hacking scandal.

While he was at the News of the World, Miskiw famously said: "That is what we do - we go out and destroy other people's lives."

While the world on Tuesday was riveted by top news officials' testimony before Parliament, Palm Beach County once again found itself connected to an international scandal.

A spokesman for American Media Inc. confirmed that Miskiw worked at The Globe in Boca Raton for about two months this year and left several months ago. In June, Miskiw incorporated a company, News Team LLC, according to the Florida Secretary of State's Office.

At the apartment a burnt-orange-colored Saab 93 convertible is parked in the gravel driveway. Miskiw's last name is on a mailbox out front.

Miskiw, 61, did not come to the door Tuesday morning when a Palm Beach Post reporter knocked.

The apartment's jalousie door had a broken window. Sound, possibly music, could be heard before a knock. A male voice also was heard. Then all was silent.

A neighbor, Kendall Pfeffer, said she and Miskiw chatted about freelance work.
"He's a friendly guy," said Pfeffer, an aspiring writer who works at a Boca Raton-based magazine.

Pfeffer said Miskiw mentioned doing work for tabloids that are owned by Boca Raton-based AMI. The company owns The National Enquirer, The Globe and the Star, as well as the online gossip website radaronline.com.

British police would like to know where Miskiw is, according to news reports. A July article in The Independent said police "are keen" to question Miskiw, described as a former News of the World assistant editor in charge of news, as well as former Executive Editor Alex Marunchak.

And an article in The Guardian said 39-year-old Terenia Taras, an ex-girlfriend of Miskiw, was arrested in June in England on suspicion of conspiring to "intercept communications." That same article said police want to talk to Miskiw, but no extradition warrant has been issued.

The News of the World has been illegally hacking into the voice-mail messages of celebrities and other prominent people to find stories. The scandal exploded two weeks ago when it was reported that the tabloid intercepted voice mails of a murdered schoolgirl.

The paper ceased publication on July 10, and the fallout has led to the resignation of members of Scotland Yard. In testimony Tuesday before a committee Parliament, Murdoch said he had no knowledge of the hacking.

At one point, committee member Paul Farrelly asked Murdoch's son, James, about an article in The Sunday Times. In the article, several figures were described as "gatekeepers" to the phone-hacking information. Among them was Miskiw.
According to a Guardian blog, James Murdoch declined to answer .

Former News of the World reporters have described a harrowing atmosphere in which reporters were pushed for "scoops."

On retainer at the News of the World was private investigator Glenn Mulcaire. According to an article in the Telegraph, Mulcaire signed a contract with Miskiw, for "research and information services."

Mulcaire was jailed for hacking into phones connected to Princes William and Harry.

Sean Hoare, a former News of the World employee and hacking whistleblower, was found dead Monday in his home. The Guardian quoted a police official as saying that the death was "unexplained but not thought to be suspicious."
Hoare, who was fired in 2005, told The New York Times that tracking a cellphone cost nearly $500 on each occasion. He learned how the practice worked, he said, when he was scrambling to find someone and was told that one of the news desk editors, Miskiw, could help.

Miskiw asked for the cellphone number, and returned later with information showing the person's precise location, Hoare told The New York Times. Miskiw did not return calls from The Times for comment.

Meanwhile, a number of former News of the World editors have been caught up or arrested in the phone-hacking scandal.

Former Editor Rebekah Brooks was arrested Sunday . The Independent said Brooks appointed Miskiw as assistant editor.

Another former News of the World editor, Andy Coulson, has denied knowledge of hacking. He later became Prime Minister David Cameron's spokesman but quit in January. He was arrested last week on phone-hacking and corruption charges.

Under Brooks were editors Marunchak, Miskiw and Ian Edmondson.

Edmondson has since been arrested, and has denied any wrongdoing.

In a July article in The Telegraph, Marunchak and Miskiw, both with Ukranian roots, were said to be at the hub of the news gathering. Miskiw left in 2005, according to media reports.

He surfaced in Florida some time after that, at first living in Boca Raton. He subsequently moved to the Delray Beach apartment.

Staff researchers Michelle Quigley and Niels Heimeriks contributed to this story.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/hacker-scandal-editor-greg-miskiw-lives-in-delray-1625897.html?printArticle=y