Harvey Weinstein hired Israeli security agency Black Cube to investigate several of the women accusing him of sexual assault.

The agents posed as journalists, abuse victims and activists, in order to destroy the women’s claims according to the New Yorker.

Black Cube employees are described as "highly experienced and trained in Israel’s elite military and governmental intelligence units."

Mr Weinstein is said to have hired Black Cube in July, to prevent the New York Times and the New Yorker from reporting on him, as well as stopping actress Rose McGowan publishing her book detailing his alleged abuse.

Weinstein first mentioned wanting to hire Black Cube, which earned an international reputation for digging up business intelligence around the world through legally murky methods, last year.

According to the New Yorker, David Boies, Mr Weinstein's lawyer offered Black Cube financial incentives for preventing the paper from publishing the articles.

Mr Boies confirmed hiring firms to investigate the women.

The firm was hired to build psychological profiles of the women accusing Mr Weinstein of abuse, while also coming up with dirt that would discredit their stories.

According to the New Yorker, one of the Black Cube investigators, who was also a former Mossad agent, pretended to be a women’s rights activist in order to meet Ms McGowan.

The same investigator is said to have posed as a victim of abuse in order to meet journalists working on the story about the Hollywood producer.