The 60-year-old, the ninth man to be arrested since the inquiry was reopened this year, was held at an address in London on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications.

Police refused to name him but Sky News, also part of the News Corp. media empire, and other media said it was Neil Wallis, the former deputy editor of the News of the World.

TV pictures later showed him being driven away from a west London police station

In a statement, the Metropolitan Police said it had hired Wallis as a consultant from Oct. 2009 until Sept. 2010, an embarrassment for a force facing questions about its links to tabloid reporters.

Police are investigating allegations journalizts on the now-defunct paper hacked the phones of members of the royal family, politicians and celebrities, as well as victims of crime, including child murders and the 2005 London bombings, to listen to their voice-mail messages.

The scandal dates back to 2005-6 when the News of the World’s royal reporter Clive Goodman and a private detective were arrested and later jailed for snooping on the voice-mail messages of royal aides.

Police are also investigating claims police officers were bribed by journalizts to provide information.

Last week, detectives arrested the paper’s former editor Andy Coulson, who went on to become Prime Minister David Cameron’s media chief before resigning in January.

Wallis was the deputy editor under Coulson until he quit following the conviction of Goodman, and went on to become the paper’s executive editor before leaving in 2009.

In a statement, the Metropolitan Police said Wallis had worked for them as an adviser for almost a year.

“Chamy Media, owned by Neil Wallis, former Executive Editor of the News of the World, was appointed to provide strategic communication advice and support to the MPS, including advice on speech writing and PR activity,” the statement said.

Wallis worked for the Met for two days a month while the Met’s Deputy Director of Public Affairs was on extended sick leave.

In April, the paper’s chief reporter Neville Thurlbeck, one of its senior reporters James Weatherup, and Ian Edmondson, a former senior editor who was sacked after an internal inquiry into his conduct, were quizzed about listening to voice-mails.

The officer leading the inquiry told lawmakers on Tuesday those arrested so far had been bailed until October and she did not expect any possible criminal charges before then.