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\Prosecutors have sought to question former Cambridge Analytica
employees and banks that handled its business, the newspaper
said, citing an American official and others familiar with the
inquiry,
Cambridge Analytica said earlier this month it was shutting down
after losing clients and facing mounting legal fees resulting
from reports the company harvested personal data about millions
of Facebook users beginning in 2014.
Allegations of the improper use of data for 87 million Facebook
users by Cambridge Analytica, which was hired by President
Donald Trump's 2016 U.S. election campaign, have prompted
multiple investigations in the United States and Europe.
The investigation by the Justice Department and FBI appears to
focus on the company's financial dealings and how it acquired
and used personal data pulled from Facebook and other sources,
the Times said.
Investigators have contacted Facebook, according to the
newspaper.
The FBI, the Justice Department and Facebook declined to comment
to Reuters. Former officials with Cambridge Analytica was not
immediately available to comment.
Cambridge Analytica was created around 2013, initially with a
focus on U.S. elections, with $15 million in backing from
billionaire Republican donor Robert Mercer and a name chosen by
future Trump White House adviser Steve Bannon, the New York
Times has reported. Bannon left the White House on August 2017.
(Reporting by Eric Beech; Editing by Peter Cooney)
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