Bloomberg admits using prison workers

Bloomberg is worth over US$50 billion, and he's not afraid of using it. File photo: AP

Billionaire Michael Bloomberg has admitted his presidential campaign used prison labour to make phone calls, following a report on the investigative website The Intercept.



Bloomberg called the report "fundamentally accurate" and said his campaign had already ended its relationship with the company involved.



The Intercept reported that the former New York mayor's campaign contracted, through a third-party vendor, the ProCom call centre company based in New Jersey.



Two of ProCom's Oklahoma call centres operate from state prisons, The Intercept said.



In at least one of those Oklahoma prisons, a minimum-security women's facility, inmates were contracted to make calls on behalf of the Bloomberg campaign, according to the report.



Bloomberg said his campaign only learned about this situation when the reporter on the story called them.



"But as soon as we discovered which vendor's subcontractor had done this, we immediately ended our relationship with the company and the people who hired them," he said in a statement.



"We do not support this practice and we are making sure our vendors more properly vet their subcontractors moving forward."



Bloomberg has a net worth of more than US$54 billion, according to Forbes.



He is using that personal fortune to spend heavily on online and television ad campaigns, and his campaign is skipping crucial states long toiled in by less well-off rivals. (AFP)