The U.S. justice Department began a criminal investigation against Uber
The U.S. justice Department began a criminal investigation in respect of the use of Uber, which helped the drivers to avoid the local authorities, reports Reuters, citing informed sources. According to them, the investigation is at an early stage.
As noted by one of the sources, the company received a request from a Grand jury in Northern California to provide documents about how it worked and how it was used.
Previously, Uber acknowledged that this “Greyball” — helped identify and avoid the officials who tried to prevent the activities of companies in the areas where its services have not yet received the sanction of the local authorities (for example, in Portland, Oregon).
Uber banned the use Greyball for this purpose shortly after the New York Times told about the existence of such software in March. Then the company said that it was created to verify orders to prevent fraud and protect drivers.
Representatives of Uber and the Ministry of justice declined to comment.