Google "explicitly and repeatedly" told employees to shield business documents from being revealed in court through the use of false requests for legal advice, the US Justice Department alleged in a court document filed Monday.

The allegation, reported earlier by Axios, is part of the Justice Department's antitrust lawsuit against Google, in which it accuses the tech giant of illegally holding monopolies in search and in search advertising.

The department alleges that Google used this approach to hide thousand of documents, including those with details of revenue-sharing agreements and Android mobile app distribution agreements.

Google didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.