The Manhattan headquarters of Newsweek and its parent company, IBT Media, was raided on Thursday by the New York City Police Department, TheWrap has learned.
While the reason for the raid was not immediately known, officers armed with a warrant have been photographing company servers as part of a larger investigation, according to a person familiar with the matter.
According to the New York Post, the IRS last month placed a $1.2 million federal tax lien against Etienne Uzac, who co-founded IBT Media with Jonathan Davis in 2006.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office declined to comment on the matter. Reps for IBT and the NYPD have not responded to requests for comment.
IBT Media runs both International Business Times and Newsweek, which it acquired five years ago from Barry Diller’s IAC.
The raid adds an exotic exclamation point to a cascade bad news which has dogged the company in recent months. Only this week, the once venerable news magazine was blasted for unserious articles suggesting President Trump was suffering from erectile dysfunction and that Hillary Clinton could in fact still become president.
The website had trafficked in misleading headlines. Last month they came in for more mockery after suggesting First Lady Melania Trump ordered the removal of a 200 year old White House tree. The tree was in fact sick and had become a danger to the public.
In October, the publication was forced to issue a full retraction of a revelatory story on Marilou Danley, the mysterious companion of Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock.
Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.