LONDON (AP) — Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Tuesday accused Rupert Murdoch’s newspapers of employing criminals to obtain confidential information about his family, his private financial affairs and the lives of ordinary people who were at “rock bottom.”

Brown’s furious denunciation of the politically powerful News International papers came a day after questions were raised about how The Sun newspaper obtained confidential information in 2006 that Brown’s infant son Fraser had cystic fibrosis.

In an interview with the British Broadcasting Corp., Brown said he and his wife Sarah were in tears after being informed by Rebekah Brooks, then the editor of The Sun and now the chief executive of News International, that the paper knew about his son’s illness.

Brown also accused The Sunday Times of employing criminals to hack into his bank and tax records.

Prime Minister David Cameron said Brown had highlighted what “looks like yet another example of an appalling invasion of privacy and the hacking of personal data,” and said he was determined that the current investigations would get to the bottom of it.

With breathtaking speed, the scandal has disrupted the media mogul’s plans to take over highly profitable satellite broadcaster British Sky Broadcasting and slashed billions off the value of his global conglomerate, News Corp.