Rebekah Brooks returning to News Corp as head of UK operations

Rebekah Brooks is returning to Rupert Murdoch's News Corp as head of the company's UK division, four years after she resigned from the company amid a phone-hacking scandal. She was earlier cleared of all charges related to the scandal.

The Financial Times, citing people familiar with the matter, reported that her return to the company could be announced as soon as early September. They added that her appointment is part of the ongoing reshuffle of News Corp's UK operations.

Brooks resigned in 2011 after a phone-hacking scandal, involving the interception of voicemails on mobile phones. News Corp-owned daily News of the World was shut down following the scandal.

Brooks was acquitted of all charges in the summer of 2014, following a 138-day trial. She was cleared of charges, including conspiring to hack phones, conspiring to commit misconduct in public office, and conspiring to cover up evidence to pervert the course of justice following the eight-month phone hacking trial at the Old Bailey. Since her acquittal, there have been reports that she is coming back to the company.

The FT, in March, reported that the former editor of the News of the World was offered the chance to run Storyful, a social media news agency purchased by Rupert Murdoch in 2013. She was also reportedly offered the chance to run the Sun's digital and video operations. The Sun is Britain's best selling tabloid owned by News Corp.

News Corp's UK operations have been undergoing a reshuffle, which include the departure of Mike Darcey, CEO of News UK, and the appointment of a new editor of the Sun. The current Sun editor David Dinsmore would take a senior operations role at News UK and would work aside Brooks, the FT reported.

Separately, Britain's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) on 28 August said it is considering a police referral for possible corporate prosecution over phone-hacking at the News of the World.

"We have received a full file of evidence for consideration of corporate liability charges relating to the Operation Weeting phone-hacking investigation," the CPS said.