Richard and George Rebh built an innovative business advertising on floor mats in grocery stores and were named New Jersey Entrepreneurs of the Year, but then a News Corp. marketing subsidiary set out to crush FLOORgraphics by a variety of questionable methods, according to court complaints by the Rebhs—including computer hacking.

As a cell phone hacking scandal rages across the Atlantic, the New Jersey computer hacking allegations are getting fresh attention.

In the middle of a trial in Trenton in 2009 regarding the lawsuit filed by the Rebhs, News Corp.’s subsidiary, News America Marketing In-Store Services, settled the case and then bought the Hamilton Township company in a 2009 deal worth about $30 million that requires the Rebhs to keep quiet about the case.

That amount stood in contrast to earnings at the time of about $1 million a year, according to reporting by Bnet.com, a business news website that has covered the case.

"News employed numerous illicit tactics in a prolonged and concerted effort to destroy (FLOORgraphics)," said a complaint filed by the company in 2006.

The complaint alleged that among other tactics, News America Marketing engaged in illegal computer espionage by breaking into FLOORgraphics’ password-protected computer system and obtaining proprietary information.

A spokeswoman for News America Marketing declined comment today.

Richard Rebh wouldn’t discuss the allegations today either, citing an agreement with News America Marketing.

"No comment as I must sit this one out due to agreements entered into as part of (FLOORgraphics Inc.’s) litigation settlement," Rebh said.

But in a trial transcript from March 2009, his brother, George Rebh testified that his company’s IT personnel found that in 2003 and 2004, Floorgraphics computer systems had been accessed without authorization on 11 occasions by computers registered to an IP address assigned to News America Marketing in Connecticut.

George Rebh also said in the trial in federal court in Trenton that William Berkley, a board member of FLOORgraphics, faxed a memo describing the computer breach to News Corp. Chief Financial Officer David DeVoe.

No response was received, according to Rebh.

In addition to reporting the alleged computer hacking to News Corp. executives, the Rebhs reached out to Rep. Rush Holt (D-12th Dist.), who forwarded the matter to then-United States Attorney Chris Christie in 2005, records from another lawsuit show. That lawsuit by Insignia, another News America Marketing competitor, resulted in an even larger multi-million dollar settlement.

Deborah Goldklang, chief of Christie’s commercial crimes unit, responded to Holt, thanking him and telling him the information would be reviewed and forwarded to the FBI.

Another letter in the Insignia case was from then-Sen. Jon Corzine and Sen. Frank Lautenberg to U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

The sale of FLOORgraphics to News America Marketing indicates how seriously the company took the case, said Wayne Eastman, a Rutgers business law professor who specializes in management and marketing.

"It would be at least a gauge of how much News Corp. was worried about the lawsuit," Eastman said. "I would agree it suggests that there’s some sort of substantial legal risk that News Corp. saw."

Eliot Caroom: (973) 392-7919, ecaroom@starledger.com or @eliotter on Twitter.