News Outdoor Russia, Former News Corp. Arm, Subject of Bribery Inquiry As News Corporation seeks to contain a widening investigation into illegal information gathering at its British publishing unit, the company may face fresh allegations at another problematic subsidiary. News Outdoor Russia, a Moscow-based billboard company that News Corporation sold to a Kremlin-controlled bank in July, is the subject of an F.B.I.inquiry into whether the company bribed local officials to approve favorable sign placements, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday. The investigation comes as News Corporation faces allegations of widespread bribery involving "a network of corrupted officials" at its British tabloid The Sun. The alleged bribery by reporters in Britain and accusations that News Outdoor Russia paid municipal officials could both trigger the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, a law that prohibits overseas arms of United States companies from paying bribes. In its investigation, the F.B.I. will seek to determine whether bribery at News Corporation's British publishing arm, News International, and at its Russian outdoor advertising subsidiary were isolated events or indicative of a broader corrupt corporate culture. If it is the latter, News Corporation could face hundreds of millions of dollars in fines and legal fees and criminal charges, according to people close to the company who were not authorized to comment on the record about a continuing investigation. "The challenge for companies subject to the F.C.P.A. is that acts at one subsidiary can pose risks to the overall enterprise, depending on how many people are involved and how large the scale," said William P. Barry, a Washington lawyer who specializes in white-collar criminal defense with an emphasis on the corrupt practices act. In July, News Corporation retained Mark Mendelsohn, a Washington lawyer who previously worked in the Justice Department's fraud division prosecuting corporations and executives accused of violating the act. A spokeswoman for News Corporation declined to comment. Russian officials have historically been uncooperative with foreign officials investigating corruption, often seen as a price for doing business in Russia. Still, some cases have progressed. In 2010, the Justice Department revealed documents that showed that the German automaker Daimler, which had been merged with Chrysler, had bribed Russian officials to secure a deal to sell cars for its police fleet and official motorcades. The company settled the charges in Federal District Court in Washington and paid $185 million. News Corporation acquired News Outdoor Russia from a group of Russian businessmen in 2000.Rupert Murdoch, chairman and chief executive of News Corporation, said the company provided a foothold in the booming economy in Russia, where outdoor advertising is splattered on buildings, billboards and bus stops. The Moscow-based company also controls outdoor signage in the Czech Republic, Ukraine and Romania, but Russia represents by far the largest market, with the company managing more than 40,000 outdoor ads in 90 cities, according to the News Outdoor Web site. According to the Russian press, News Outdoor Russia often provided on a pro bono basis billboards for images of Vladimir V. Putin, who claimed victory in Russia's presidential elections over the weekend. In 2002, Maxim Tkachev, managing director of News Outdoor, survived a shooting outside his Moscow office. Not long after that attack, a gunman in a black ski mask shot and killed Vladimir Kanevsky, a Russian billboard mogul and head of the outdoor advertising agency Big Board Group, a main competitor of News Outdoor. According to the report in the Journal, which is a News Corporation publication, the F.B.I. is also investigating the killing of Mr. Kanevsky and looking into whether it was related to corruption at News Outdoor. A spokeswoman for News Outdoor Russia told The Journal that the company was an "investment project for News Corporation" and that the New York-based media conglomerate "didn't participate in the operations of the company." News Corporation sold its 79 percent stake in News Outdoor Russia for $270 million, well below its estimated value of $1.65 billion in 2008. In a Financial Times interview in 2008, Mr. Murdoch said he wanted to sell the unit before it was "stolen."