FIND MADELEINE FUND - NO STONE UNTURNED - All reports here

I'd like to open this thread to collect as much as we all can together about:

1. Income into the Fund...from any sources...e.g.>>>

* Donations
* Libel awards
* TV appearances
* Sales of writsbands and posters etc.
* G & K's fun runs and bike rides
* Community fund-raising by community groups
* Wealthy benefactors

2. Expenses from the Fund...from any sources...e.g.>>>

* Metodo 3
* Kevin Halligen
* The McCanns' lawyers including Bates Wells and Braithwaite
* The McCanns' mortgage
* Website
* Goods purchased
* G & K's hotel and travel expenses

3. Any statements at all about the Fund, how much there is in it, what it is being used for etc.

It would also be useful to have, alongside that, information about benefactors who said they would support the McCanns - what quotes do we have about them, do we have details of what amounts they contributed and what for etc.?

In return I undertake to compile an article covering all the above and publish it here.

This thought was triggered by Jill publishing an article on another thread about GMcC collecting 2,300 euros from a fund-raising jazz concert, something I had never come across.

Maybe it was used to help Madeira lawyer Marcos Aragao Correia be paid via Metodo 3 for two high-profile searches of the Arade Dam for Madeleine's bones?

Tony Bennett wrote: 'In return I undertake to compile an article covering all the above and publish it here.'

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But steady on there, because this will be an enormous undertaking, if only because of some of the shady criminals who have been involved.

This will be like peeling a monstrous and surreal onion. And one is in no doubt that every skin taken off will make some people cry when they see what is underneath.

Just to start off from Gerry blog, telling us how much in the fund and how he was going to keep the amount updated on his website, which if I recall later disappeared from the top of the page.

Day 108 - 19/08/2007 - Sunday

19 August 2007 I went to the airport this morning to pick up one of Kates friends who has come out to help for a few days. Kate went to church this morning as usual. We spent a couple of hours reading mail and answering e-mails.

Donations to Madeleines fund have topped £1million pounds. We would like to thank everyone who has donated to the fund and we will ensure that no stone is left unturned in the search for Madeleine. I will also ensure that the donations figure on the website is officially updated! The establishment of the fund, which was created in response to so many people offering financial assistance, lifted a huge weight off our shoulders. Madeleines fund allows us to make decisions regarding our search for Madeleine for the right reasons- with the boards approval of course- and not out of financial necessity. We did hope that the main objective of the fund would have been fulfilled long before now.
Tonight Kate and I went for a run together. It was the first time I have been for 10 days and I definitely feel better for it. I have made a mental note to get some form of aerobic exercise in at least 2-3 times per week as it does help me both physically and mentally

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Where the £2m you gave to find Madeleine McCann has gone



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Last updated at 8:28 AM on 29th January 2009

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The search goes on: Kate McCann in Portugal in September 2007


The fund set up to help find Madeleine McCann raised almost £2million in the first ten months after she vanished, it was revealed yesterday.
The wave of shock and public sympathy that swept Britain after her suspected abduction led supporters to donate money at a rate of almost £260 an hour.
Accounts lodged with Companies House show the fund received £1.4million in bank donations, another £391,000 over the internet and £64,000 from the sale of T-shirts and wristbands.
In total, it received £1.85million in its first ten months and earned £33,424 in interest. It spent £815,113 on the search for Madeleine in that time.
This included £26,000 to fund the purchase of merchandise and £250,000 on the fees for private investigators.
But the accounts – which have been made public for the first time – have been published with a warning that donations had gone on to fall dramatically and were now ‘significantly lower’ than in the immediate aftermath of the three-yearold’s disappearance in Portugal in 2007.
Support for her parents – Kate and Gerry – was rocked when Portuguese police named them as suspects, and when it emerged they had used public donations to pay two £2,000 instalments on their mortgage.
Madeleine vanished from a holiday flat in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz on May 3, 2007, while her parents ate dinner at a nearby restaurant with friends.
The accounts provide a fascinating insight into the surge of support the family received, but also the costs of their worldwide campaign to find their child.
The fund’s biggest expense in the first ten months was £250,000 spent on private investigators hired to try to find her, including the Spanish agency Metodo 3.
Agency boss Francisco Marco boasted he would find Madeleine within three months, but his ‘leads’ seemingly came to nothing and the firm is no longer involved with the hunt.
The fund spent £123,573 on campaign management, which is believed to include the salary of the McCanns’ temporary spokesman Justine McGuinness and the fees of a PR agency.

A later spokesman, former BBC journalist Clarence Mitchell, had his salary paid by one of the couple’s wealthy benefactors.
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Vanished: Madeleine McCann, seen with father Gerry, went missing in May 2007


The fund spent £111,522 on legal fees and expenses and £81,904 on posters and television and newspaper adverts appealing for information about Madeleine. Mr and Mrs McCann, both 40, set up the fund in May 2007.
Legal restrictions meant it could not be set up as a charity, so it is run as a not-for-profit company by a board made up of McCann friends, colleagues and relatives.

Mr McCann’s brother John is its chairman and wrote a foreword to the accounts. He said: ‘As expected, the level of donations has fallen over time, although we have a number of loyal donors continuing their support.’
He went on: ‘However our expenses are ongoing and likely to increase . . . The release of the police investigation files has enabled our investigative team to access a wealth of new information to be followed up, resulting in increased search and investigation activity.

'We will continue to ensure that Madeleine is not forgotten and will leave no stone unturned in our continued search for her.’
The accounts cover the months from May 2007 to March 2008, when the fund had £1.05million remaining in its coffers.

It has since been boosted by several libel payouts to the McCanns and their friends, the so-called Tapas Seven, which they donated to the fund.
The McCanns were cleared as suspects last August.

Their spokesman Mr Mitchell said: ‘People will be able to see that every penny of the money they so generously donated has been spent properly in the hunt to find Madeleine.’



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Thanks for contributions on this thread to date:

WHEN THE MONEY NEARLY RAN OUT

Money for the international search operation is dwindling, Gerry McCann said.


"There's still money in it. I can't give you the exact figure, but we have spent - and continue to spend - a lot of money with the aim of trying to enhance the chance of finding her," he told The Portugal News.

"It won't dry up in the next few months, but probably by the end of the year, at the rate we are running."



The fund is believed to have received about £2.5 million since Madeleine disappeared from Praia da Luz on May 3, 2007.

Mr McCann, 40, gave the interview to the English language newspaper after returning to Portugal to help in a reconstruction being filmed for a Channel Four Cutting Edge documentary.

Earlier this year, accounts lodged with Companies House showed nearly £2 million was raised in the first 10 months after the little girl went missing.

By March 31 last year the official fund had fallen to £600,000 after an initial surge of donations dried up.
More than £815,000 from the fund was spent on efforts to trace Madeleine.

This included £250,000 for search fees, including the bill for Spanish private detectives Metodo 3, £111,522 for legal costs and £123,573 for campaign management.

Mr McCann was reportedly heckled by a small group of locals after going back to the Algarve last week.
The Ocean Club, where the McCanns stayed, recently laid off staff and some blame the redundancies on the impact of the disappearance on tourism.

He said: "I can totally understand that people want to move on. They don't want the media intrusion and the negative association with Madeleine's abduction."

He said he was sorry for any harm caused to the resort.

He continued: "The reason we are doing this documentary is that it should be about Madeleine. I can understand why people don't like it or that our level of child care was not to their standard, but the focus should be on an innocent child and that someone has taken her."

He added that there was no evidence to suggest his daughter was dead.

"It's a possibility we might never see her again, but until we have absolute definitive evidence of what happened to Madeleine, we can't stop searching."

Mr McCann said his wife Kate would love to return to the resort but would not be going back for the anniversary of the disappearance.

He highlighted the difficulty caused by the intense media spotlight.

Asked about their relationship, he said: "We are united in our search for Madeleine and we are very strong in our relationship."

And he said their twins, Sean and Amelie, knew Madeleine was missing, understood she had been taken, but talked about her coming home.

The documentary, being made by Mentorn Media, will be aired on May 7, five days before the youngster's sixth birthday.

[snipped - long article]

ITV’s controller of current affairs and documentaries, Jeff Anderson, said the channel will donate £10,000 to the Find Madeleine Fund. However, he added that no payment has been made to Kate and Gerry McCann for the making of the programme.


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The McCanns have the sheer audacity to ask the public to fund their schemes, yet they do not have a single, solitary friend or associate who would volunteer to do their accounts for them to save the extortionate accountant expenses.

14.000 fifty pence pieces equal £7,000. This means that 14,000 children and pensioners would each have to donate a 50p piece to accrue enough money to pay the accountant.

But £7,000 would not be quite enough, because the bill for the accounting was £7,050. Making it necessary for another 100 children and pensioners to donate another 50p piece each.

14,100 children and pensioners donating 50 pence each would be needed to pay the accountant.

Please do not bring me the accountancy figures for any other funds or charities to prove that this was reasonable! Thank you.

candyfloss wrote:[snipped - long article]

ITV’s controller of current affairs and documentaries, Jeff Anderson, said the channel will donate £10,000 to the Find Madeleine Fund. However, he added that no payment has been made to Kate and Gerry McCann for the making of the programme.


[url=http://www.itv.com/News/DailyDebateArticles/McCannDocumentary/default.html

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How strange that he cannot see that it is the same damned thing.

Daily Express earlier this month:


A CRACK team of British ex-police officers who have joined the search for Madeleine McCann are giving her parents fresh hope.

Kate and Gerry McCann are convinced three new investigators will help solve their daughter’s disappearance and she told a friend yesterday: “A new team, new ideas and new hope!”

The three, paid by the Find Maddie Fund, are now in the Portuguese capital Lisbon.

Kate has made a return trip to the resort where her daughter, now seven years old, was snatched nearly three-and-a-half years ago.

She visited friends in Praia da Luz and went alone to the Catholic Church and wept as she prayed.

MADELEINE’S FUND LOSES KEY MCCANN

Sunday September 26,2010

By James Murray and Tracey Kandohla

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'NO STONE UNTURNED': New vigour in the hunt for Madeleine

THE brother of Gerry McCann has quit the Madeleine Fund amid a drive to inject new dynamism into the search for the missing seven-year-old.

John McCann has been a dedicated director since the fund was launched more than three years ago and worked tirelessly behind the scenes to do everything he could to find the child.

However, latest company accounts show he left last month along with fellow director Douglas Skehan, a heart specialist and colleague of Gerry McCann who works with him at Leicester’s Glenfield Hospital. Speaking at the launch of the fund two weeks after Madeleine vanished, John said:

“This fund will be a vehicle to help our family get our darling, wee niece back.”

In an update to their website, neither Kate nor Gerry McCann mentioned the names of the directors who have left.

Instead they focused on the renewed vigour behind the campaign to find their daughter. They believe Madeleine was abducted from their holiday apartment in Praia da Luz on Portugal’s Algarve coast in May 2007.

The message states: “There will be some changes and development in terms of strategy and ideas as we endeavour to leave no stone unturned in our search.

“This will include some changes to the board of Madeleine’s Fund, simply to try to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of what we are doing. It has now been three years and four months since Madeleine was taken from us. None of us ever thought we’d still be in the position we are today.

[Hmmm - do you remember this, Dr Gerald McCann? - "I have no doubt we will be able to sustain a high profile for Madeleine’s disappearance in the long-term" - 28 June 2007]

“Inevitably there has to be change for a variety of reasons but importantly, this will also allow people to help and support us in different ways.

“Regardless of change, everyone’s focus, commitment and desire continues to be that of finding Madeleine.”

New board members, as yet unnamed, have been appointed to the fund, which stands at £450,000 and relies on public donations to pay private investigators to carry on the search.

The unsigned blog continues: “Keeping Madeleine’s image out there greatly increases our chances of finding her.

“It is a reminder to people that she is still missing and to please keep looking for her. In addition, we know that somebody knows where Madeleine is.

“One more reminder of her may be all that it takes for them to finally come forward and let us know.”

The McCanns met Home Secretary Theresa May over the summer to ask for a review of all evidence in the case.

Large donation from Portsmouth F.C.

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candyfloss wrote:Large donation from Portsmouth F.C.

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What???

Portsmouth Football Club owe tens of millions and nearly went out of business and out of existence earlier this month!!

[snipped - full article below]]


Mr Mitchell said: "The monthly fee for their services is about £8,000.
"The £50,000 is for legitimate operational costs - having people scattered around different countries, hiring vehicles, hiring property to stay in and hotel bills.
"A private operation like this does cost money in terms of seeking information. It is something that needs that sustained level of funding to work. Private investigations are not cheap.
"The fund contributes £50,000 a month


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Translating the files


[snipped - link to article from sky below]

Now translated into English, at a cost of £100,000, the files are yielding new leads for the private detectives, they tell the documentary makers.

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candyfloss wrote:[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Where the £2m you gave to find Madeleine McCann has gone

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Quick glance of the b/sheet looks unporpotionate in some places.

Of the £815,113 expended only less than a third £250,000 was for search for Maddie.
So two thirds spendings were wasted on incidentals with legal expenses (£179K) leading the cost, followed by campaign management and PR fees (£123K)
In short the legal and campaign management costs surpass search for Maddie.
'Search Fees including and PIs' is a strange one because what other searches were there besides PIs?

'Fund Professional Fees' of £37K would translate to mean Directors' Fees I would imagine.
Its strange that all these rich and influential people sitting on the Board needed to be paid from a Fund predominantly in existence for the purpose of searching for a missing child?

The mccanns were charging the funds even for their travels expenses when they court the media - Shameful!

It's patently obvious the fund is not reserved carefully for search for Maddie - scandalous really.

Oh, the irony of it all....hiring expensive lawyers to ensure that fund and campaign are run within legal perimeters yet the legitimacy of the fund is questionable!

candyfloss wrote:Translating the files


[snipped - link to article from sky below]

Now translated into English, at a cost of £100,000, the files are yielding new leads for the private detectives, they tell the documentary makers.

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£100,000 to tell them the same thing that the police have been telling them for three and a half years?

This is utterly scandalous.

Judge Mental wrote:

candyfloss wrote:Translating the files


[snipped - link to article from sky below]

Now translated into English, at a cost of £100,000, the files are yielding new leads for the private detectives, they tell the documentary makers.

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£100,000 to tell them the same thing that the police have been telling them for three and a half years?

This is utterly scandalous.

what files? They could have read it free from internet or dont they trust other people's translation?

Website costs....£37,071?????

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It’s the public’s business to scrutinise the McCann business


By John Hirst


When I first heard that the McCanns intended setting up a “Fighting Fund”, I wondered why and who or what were they fighting against?
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There is money to be made out of this.
Madeleine’s Fund created,
Companies House ‘Current Appointments Report’ shows that Madeleine’s Fund – Leaving No Stone Unturned Limited’ was created on this day:
Current Appointments Report for:
MADELEINE’S FUND: LEAVING NO STONE UNTURNED LIMITED
06248215
company was created 12th May 2007
It was initially set up, on behalf of the McCanns, in 48 hours, by the International Family Law Group (IFLG). This does appear to be something of a rush job. When jobs are rushed mistakes can be made.
Business, charity, or scam?
“It is thought the original idea was to set the fund up as a charity but this was rejected, according to The Times, when it became clear that a charity cannot be operated for the sole benefit of one person. The Charity Commission later denied this.
One of the things that distinguishes a limited company from a charity is that it does not have all the rules and regulations which govern the conduct of the fundraising and which controls the proportion of the charities funds that are spent on overheads, expenses and wages etc.
It was also reported at the time that the Charity Commission was extremely disturbed at the way the Fund was being advertised as it gave people the impression that they were donating to a charity – not a private limited company.
The reality is, however unpalatable, that Madeleine’s Fund is a private limited company and can therefore spend the money donated in any way it so chooses. The memorandum of association is so wide that practically any expenditure could be approved by the board of directors“.
Not for the first time do we have a dispute with the McCann version of events and that given by someone else or by an organisation. I think it is possible, for example, to set up a charity in aid of a child dying from cancer. If this is the case, then there is no reason why the McCanns could not have registered their cause as a charity. The problem from their end would be the lack of control exercised by the McCanns. So, it was decided to set up a company instead. Nevertheless, some people still labour under the mistaken belief that the Madeleine Fund is a charity. Even allowing for the McCann statements that it is not a charity, I feel that the false impression remains in some people’s minds because of the way that the McCanns keep aligning themselves to charities, and misleading reporting in the media such as this from the recent McCanns fund raising event “[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]“. It implies that the Madeleine Fund is a charity. I have yet to see any demand made by the McCanns to correct this false information. Given that the McCanns have a history for wanting corrections made in the media on stories concerning themselves, why is there silence on their part?
Having established that the Madeleine Fund is not a charity, the focus turns to the question of a business or scam. An indication that the McCanns are in the business to make money, is their distasteful application to brand their missing 3 year old child as a trademark.
Trademark application filed
The campaign to find Madeleine McCann has applied for British and European trademarks to protect its fundraising, internet and print promotions. The applications, which were filed on May 18, seek to protect the name “Madeleine’s Fund: Leaving No Stone Unturned”. The European application also seeks protection for the provision of social services and advice for people affected by missing children.
It appears as though the McCanns are laying claim to be the only persons entitled to earn money out of Madeleine’s disappearance. This does not sit well with the English law principle that criminals should not profit from their crimes. It is accepted that the McCanns have so far not been convicted of any criminal offence in relation to the disappearance of Madeleine. So, they remain innocent until proven guilty.
Bringing the McCanns to account is a long drawn out process. It will help if the Madeliene Fund is attacked successfully in the courts. It is hoped by doing this that rich backers like Brian Kennedy and Richard Branson will have a rethink about keep funding the McCanns.
I noted that it was originally stated that the McCanns would not use the Madeleine Fund in their criminal defence. And yet, the Madeleine Fund has been used to pay for the McCanns legal fight against Mr Amaral. The published accounts do not refer to it being used for this purpose in relation to Madeleine, but the court injunction clearly refers to Madeleine as being one of the claimants in the case. Once again we have an inconsistency from the McCann Camp.
It’s a business we are dealing with. I question the not for profit aspect. Accepting it is a business does not rule out the possibility that it is also a scam. Those conducting scams are in the business of making money. A legitimate business is not a scam, and a scam is not a legitimate business. My suspicion is that what we are really dealing with here is a scam. I do not have enough evidence to support a criminal beyond all reasonable doubt standard of proof, however, the civil standard of balance of probabilities does not look good for the McCanns.

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