WHAT'S NEXT FOR MADDIE HUNT? Donations to Madeleine McCann’s search fund have dried up after 11 years — so what’s next?

Woe woe and thrice woe - titter ye not..

WHAT'S NEXT FOR MADDIE HUNT? Donations to Madeleine McCann’s search fund have dried up after 11 years — so what’s next?

The McCanns could lose the last bit of money they have for the search if a EU court rules against them
By Mike Ridley

22nd September 2018, 12:27 am
Updated: 22nd September 2018, 12:30 am

IT remains the most famous missing person case in living history, broke the heart of a nation and sparked searches all over the world.

When Madeleine McCann disappeared just days shy of her fourth birthday during a family holiday to Portugal in 2007, the public response was overwhelming in terms of grief, fascination and a desperation to find her.

This goodwill translated into an outpouring of donations to the fund set up to “leave no stone unturned”, which topped £1.8million within a few months.

Yet now, after 11 years of failed investigations all over the world and lengthy legal battles, the public has simply stopped giving.

Last night a family source admitted: “There are no public donations of any value.” The fund’s online shop selling stickers, T-shirts and missing posters has shut down.

It comes after we revealed that Madeleine’s Fund — which still has nearly three quarters of a million pounds left in its accounts — could be virtually wiped out if a European court case goes against the family.

Last year it earned £7,180, but most of that came from interest on more than £500,000 invested by stockbrokers to pay for private investigators when Scotland Yard stops its probe, titled Operation Grange.

And our inquiries this week have revealed that donations from the public have virtually dried up over the past three years.

In the first months after Madeleine vanished from the family’s holiday apartment in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz, £1.8million flooded into the fund, including more than £64,000 from sales of T-shirts, wristbands and “holiday packs” — posters and car stickers holidaymakers could paste up when they went abroad.

The following year generous supporters donated more than £600,000, with merchandise again a major part of the fund’s income.

By 2012 accounts show more £306,393 was still coming in from the public, much of it from sales in the online shop.

But the following year income from the public dropped to £70,000, and by 2014 supporters gave just £21,265, including only £2,744 from people buying T-shirts and wristbands.

Kate McCann recently posted on the Fund website that she is no longer able to deal with sales of posters and T-shirts that help fund the hunt for her daughter, who would now be 15. Her post reads: “Unfortunately, due to many commitments and pressures, I am unable to attend to website orders.

“Your support means a lot to us. Your kindness and generosity is no less appreciated, however, and continues to buoy us up.”

Donations from well-wishers have now dwindled to nothing.

A family friend said: “Public donations dried up a long time ago. Every time the story comes into the news a few kind people generously send a few quid in.

“Last year’s tenth anniversary brought it into the public’s minds and most normal rational, kind human beings will donate then.

“But the idea that money is still flooding in is just wrong. There are no public donations of any real value. In 2007 and 2008 the money was coming in but there was a gradual fade off after that.”

Support for Madeleine’s parents Kate and Gerry was rocked when Portuguese police named them as “arguidos”, or suspects, in September 2007, and again when it emerged they had used public donations to pay two £2,000 instalments on their mortgage.

The couple were also subjected to baseless yet frenzied social media allegations of involvement in their daughter’s death.

The only extra money going into the fund now is from royalties on the book Kate wrote in 2011 about the case — Madeleine: Our Daughter’s Disappearance And The Continuing Search For Her.

Together with serialisation deals, it is understood the book — which became a best-seller — has raised nearly £1million for the fund, which has six trustees including Kate and Gerry, both 50.

Last year the book raised royalties amounting to £84,096.

An insider said: “The fund always generates lots of animosity on social media and criticism. Some people think it is all public donations. It isn’t. In the early days more than a million pounds came in on a wave of sympathy in the shock of what had happened.

“That money was largely spent in the first few years on private investigative work, as those donors would have wanted it to be. The original funds that have been given by public donation have long been spent, properly, but spent.”

Tax expert Jim Lee, who has studied accounts filed by the fund since 2008, confirmed: “The accounts no longer say where their income is coming from. Most of it is from stock market investments and royalties from Kate’s book.

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The McCanns are embroiled in a row with Goncalo Amaral

“In the early days there were a lot on donations being made to their fund but they are certainly not getting the money from the public that once flowed in.”

Most recent accounts revealed how just over £65,000 was spent on fees for the McCann’s Portuguese lawyer, Isabel Duarte, to cover the several years it took to lodge a case in the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France.

The legal action is aimed at overturning a Portuguese Supreme Court ruling that detective Goncalo Amaral — who wrote a book about the case claiming Madeleine died in Portugal and her parents covered it up — did not defame the McCanns.

If the couple lose the European Court of Human Rights case they face having to pay Amaral £430,000 in damages, plus costs, which could wipe out most of the remaining money.
Timeline of events

May 3, 2007: Madeleine vanishes from her bedroom while her parents eat nearby.

September 6: Kate McCann attends a formal police interview.

September 7: Kate and Gerry are made arguidos. Kate refuses to answer 48 questions.

October 3: Detective Goncalo Amaral is removed from the case.

April 7, 2008: Leicestershire Police interview McCann holiday pals dubbed “Tapas Seven”.

July 21: Portugal authorities lift the arguido status from the McCanns.

May 10, 2011: Scotland Yard launches Operation Grange dedicated to the case.

April 25, 2012: Met release artist’s image of Madeleine aged nine.

July 4: Scotland Yard says it is investigating 38 “persons of interest”, including 12 Britons.

October 14: Met releases e-fits of men they want to trace, including man seen carrying a child.

October 24: Portuguese police reopen their investigation.

May 6, 2014: British detectives granted permission to excavate two sites near where Madeleine disappeared.

October 28, 2015: Operation Grange team is cut from 29 to four.

April 28, 2016: Met says investigators have one last line of inquiry.

December 4: Scotland Yard gets extra funding to investigate “important” new lead.

March 12, 2017: Scotland Yard gets £85,000 to extend investigation.

September 30, 2018: £85,000 due to run out

Probe cops' last £85k used up

By Tracey Kandohla

NEXT week Gerry and Kate McCann are expected to learn whether Scotland Yard detectives will continue the hunt for Madeleine.

So far, more than £11million of taxpayers’ money has been spent on the investigation. However, next Sunday the last £85,000 – which paid for three part-time detectives to keep the investigation going – will run out.

It is believed Scotland Yard chiefs will ask the Home Office for £50,000 to £70,000 to continue the hunt.

A source said: “It is not a huge amount. Scotland Yard have confirmed they are in dialogue with the Home Office yet again. Within a week or two the Yard will probably say ‘yes, we have agreed a small payment’ and it will roll on.

“Being realistic, it will end sometime soon if there is no breakthrough. I think Kate and Gerry know that.”

   MADELEINE’S Fund: Leaving No Stone Unturned Ltd is a not-for-profit company because under existing rules a charity cannot be set up for the benefit of just one person. Money experts Quilter Cheviot have invested £547,000 for the charity to earn interest. Last year the fund gained more than £7,000 in interest payments.Currently  there are restricted funds – to be used to pay to continue the search if Scotland Yard cops are no longer involved – totalling £547,226. Plus cash in the bank totalling £167,574.

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This is total b******!!!! The case filed with European Court of Human Rights has nothing to see with GA - it´s the McCann against the Portuguese State, asking for a compensation for violation of their fundamental Human Rights, because of the way the Portuguese authorities dealt with the investigation of the disappearance of Maddie. If the McCann win, the Portuguese Sate will have to pay them a compensation. If they loose, they pay the costs of the case, as it is normal in any court, in any country, and go home. GA is not envolved/related with this case. There is no legal possibility - because the accused is the Portuguese State - that the court rules any kind of compensation to GA!!!!

~ violation of their fundamental Human Rights ~

If there is any truth in this story about an application to the ECHR, which I seriously doubt, it will be very interesting to see how the McCann's lawyers present their case.

What human rights have been violated I ask? Can't see it myself but who am I to question the mighty force of the law, or the mighty force of McCann law.

What about the violation of their daughter's memory, regularly abused and misused with their blessing by the UK's gutter press?

Madeleine 's fate is a tragedy.

Verdi wrote:~ violation of their fundamental Human Rights ~

If there is any truth in this story about an application to the ECHR, which I seriously doubt, it will be very interesting to see how the McCann's lawyers present their case.

What human rights have been violated I ask?  Can't see it myself but who am I to question the mighty force of the law, or the mighty force of McCann law.

 Well, anyone is free to complain to a court. But the first step in ECHR procedures is to analyze the complain, to see if there is enough reason to be accepted for trial. The large majority of the cases that are send to that court are quickly refused and dismissed. It is necessary to present very strong and clear evidence of violation of Human Rights, for a case to be accepted for trial. And also, in most cases that go on trial, the court rules against the plaintiff, because it is necessary to be proved that the institutions and authorities of the State the case is brought against were acting with full knowledge that they were violating the Human Rights of somebody, beyond reasonable doubt. So, I bet a dinner with anyone in this forum (next time I go to London, because my younger son is working there, on a start-up company) that the McCann complain will not be accepted for trial...

Oh dear how are they going to maintain their lifestyle now[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

How are they going to pay Goncalo Amaral?

He will take everything... I wonder how the press will spin that one?

The fraudulent fund still holds a substantial amount.  their house could be sold.  I'm sure family, friends and supporters would assist when the time comes for them to pay up.

BlueBag wrote:How are they going to pay Goncalo Amaral?

He will take everything... I wonder how the press will spin that one?

 There is no legal possibility, at all, that the ECHR orders McCann to pay a pound to anyone. They are the plaintiffs, in this case, against the Portuguese Sate. It's the McCann couple versus Portuguese State. Gonçalo Amaral has absolutely nothing to see with this case. If the McCann win, the Portuguese State must pay them a compensation. If they lose, they go home, just have to pay the costs of the case, as it happens in every court, in every country.

I think the whole payments thing is getting confused by almost everyone, but this is how I see it.
 
The original ‘book’ case in Portugal, which the McCann’s eventually lost in 2010 saw them with a bill for substantial costs, which they were allowed to defer pending resolution of the ‘libel’ case.
 
The original decision in the ‘libel’ case saw them awarded compensation of  €500k (= £357k in 2015, but, with todays exchange rates = £450k, so the oft quoted £430k is somewhere in between and equates to the exchange rate around the time of last year’s GA appeal judgement) but when this decision was overturned, the MSM &/or McCanns seemed to think they have ‘lost’ this amount, although obviously they never actually had it in the first place.
 
All of the costs of the first case and the second, plus the appeal costs then fell due, which it seems the Mc's have still not paid, although a creditors figure of up to £51k has been allowed for in the 2017 accounts for work done by Isabel Duarte.
 
 
I always felt that a contingent liability figure should have been included in the accounts going back to 2011 in respect of the costs from the ‘book’ case falling due at some time in the future, but the accountants obviously felt this was not needed.

 
Not wishing to just cut their losses, they have now gone to the ECHR in a seemingly fruitless case against the Portuguese state, thereby incurring even more expense. 
 
It would certainly be interesting to see quite how much the McCanns are presently in for, with both their own and GA’s (plus others) costs, which is the figure that GA was asking for last week. I know this was in Portugal, but if you look at costs of this sort of thing in the UK, it must surely be well in excess of £500k.
 
GA had his assets seized &/or frozen pending the result of the court case, but I don’t believe we have ever received confirmation that they have been released.

The biggest nonsense I saw, about this, written in the British Media, was the reference that the McCann want the ECHR to overthrow the Portuguese Supreme Court decision that acquitted GA from the charges of defamation and from the payment of a compensation to the couple, because of his book, decided initially, by a lower level court. NO INSTITUTION OR COURT in the world can overthrow a decision of Portuguese Supreme Court (or from the Supreme Court of any country!). That's the reason why those courts are called "Supreme" - because, after they decide, case closed, forever. And the supreme judicial power of these courts is a basic question of national sovereignty!!

GA assets are no more seized &/or frozen. Once the Portuguese Supreme Court decided against the McCann, all of those judicial decisions of this first level court were cancelled. What the McCann had to pay were the judicial costs of the case against GA, a normal and automatic procedure, in Portuguese courts and in courts all over the world...

As far as I know, after the Portuguese Supreme Court decision, the McCann had also to pay part of the judicial costs payed of GA (NOT lawyers fees!) while defending himself - something around to 4 thousand euros...

pjcvreis:

'GA assets are no more seized &/or frozen. Once the Portuguese Supreme Court decided against the McCann, all of those judicial decisions of this first level court were cancelled.'


Good news for once, thank you.

pjcvreis wrote:GA assets are no more seized &/or frozen. Once the Portuguese Supreme Court decided against the McCann, all of those judicial decisions of this first level court were cancelled. What the McCann had to pay were the judicial costs of the case against GA, a normal and automatic procedure, in Portuguese courts and in courts all over the world...

That's brilliant news , thanks for the update.

Do we know whether GA has had his books back yet?  I believe that these were being held somewhere whilst the case was ongoing.

sharonl wrote:

pjcvreis wrote:GA assets are no more seized &/or frozen. Once the Portuguese Supreme Court decided against the McCann, all of those judicial decisions of this first level court were cancelled. What the McCann had to pay were the judicial costs of the case against GA, a normal and automatic procedure, in Portuguese courts and in courts all over the world...

That's brilliant news , thanks for the update.

Do we know whether GA has had his books back yet?  I believe that these were being held somewhere whilst the case was ongoing.

Hi sharon,perhaps the "truth Of The Lie" has been read by Gerry,causing his latest "Mental Depression State",?

Must be terrible for Clarence and Team McCann to have to return the merchandise back to their owners,free to sell Once again,eh Carter!

sharonl wrote:

pjcvreis wrote:GA assets are no more seized &/or frozen. Once the Portuguese Supreme Court decided against the McCann, all of those judicial decisions of this first level court were cancelled. What the McCann had to pay were the judicial costs of the case against GA, a normal and automatic procedure, in Portuguese courts and in courts all over the world...

That's brilliant news , thanks for the update.

Do we know whether GA has had his books back yet?  I believe that these were being held somewhere whilst the case was ongoing.

He has his books back, already, they can be bought at any book store or online. Among many others, FNAC offers the book, at online sale, with free shipping and 10% discount to FNAC Card Members, "Guerra & Paz" also has at it in its website, for 5 Euros:

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I wonder....they need to pay Amaral and funding has dried up eh? How convenient. How does it work between countries...bankruptcy that is? Would they still have to pay him if they declared here? (UK)