E-mails: News Corp. had hacking unit Media mogul Rupert Murdoch, whose News Corp. is under a police investigation in Australia and Britain, lashed out on his Twitter page about the latest claims: "Seems every competitor and enemy piling on with lies and libels." Jan. 15 file photo. LONDON, March 29 (UPI) -- News Corp., at the core of a phone hacking scandal in Britain, was accused of running a secret unit to sabotage competitors in Australia, e-mails indicated. The Australian business newspaper Australian Financial Review received 14,000 e-mails concerning News Corp., the British publication The Daily Telegraph reported Thursday. Australian Communications Minister Stephen Conroy said the allegations should be referred for investigation to the Australian Federal Police. News Corp. is trying to acquire the Austar television network in Australia, the Telegraph reported. Foxtel, part-owned by News Corp., is in the process of acquiring the rival network in a $2 billion bid. The latest claims against Murdoch's company indicate NDS, a technology company also partly owned by News Corp., had a covert unit that encouraged hacking of competitors, the Telegraph said. The practice reportedly cost rivals about $52.5 million a year and was partially responsible for putting at least one competitor out of business. Both NDS and News Corp. deny the allegations. "Enemies [with] many different agendas, but worst old toffs and right wingers who still want last century's status quo with their monopolies [sic]," another Murdoch Twitter post said.