Alleged theft of Mitt Romney's taxes probed

WASHINGTON -- Assuming it's not a hoax, the purported theft of Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney's tax returns has all the trappings of a high-tech whodunit: a politically themed burglary, a $1 million demand in hard-to-trace Internet currency, password-protected data and a threat to reveal everything in three more weeks.

But can it be believed? The Secret Service and FBI were investigating yesterday after someone claimed to have burglarized a PricewaterhouseCoopers accounting office in Franklin, Tenn., and stolen two decades' worth of Romney's returns.

Computer thumb drives were delivered with the ransom demand that said tax returns delivered on the thumb drives were encrypted, and copies would be sent to media outlets. It promised to reveal the password to unlock the tax returns on Sept. 28 if payment is not made. Pricewaterhouse has said there was no evidence of a theft. -- AP