RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil's justice minister lamented on Sunday what he called the "criminal invasion" of the phones of several prosecutors involved in a sprawling anti-graft probe that has put dozens of top politicians and businessmen behind bars.

Justice Minister Sergio Moro, who led the "Operation Car Wash" investigation when he was a judge, put out a statement after the online news publication The Intercept published articles that it said reveal private messages between Moro and members of the task force.

Moro said he was not given a chance to comment on the hacked phone conversations before publication and regretted that the source of the leaked messages in the story remained anonymous.

The federal prosecutors' office issued its own statement confirming that phones were hacked. It strongly criticized the "hacker's vile action," saying the leak potentially threatens investigations that are underway and reveals prosecutors' strategies.

The statement also said the hack exposes aspects of the personal lives of prosecutors. Those hacked worked in the federal prosecutor's office for Parana state.

The "Car Wash" probe was launched in 2014 to investigate billions of dollars in contracts given out by state-run oil company Petrobras.