In 2009, the McCanns private Investigators, Metodo 3 were under investigation for embezzlement and money laundering.

Metodo 3 under investigation in a case of embezzlement and money laundering SOSMaddie

 
Duarte Levy & A. Finkelstein 
02 February 2009
Thanks to AnnaEsse for translation
 
Metodo 3, the Catalan detective agency hired by Kate and Gerry McCann to look for their daughter Madeleine, is today cited in a large scale investigation launched by the Spanish authorities involving six ministers of the Generalitat of Catalonia.(*)
 
According to a memo from the prosecutor's office, in recent years, the Catalan government, has allegedly commissioned and paid for a significant number of reports that seem to have no purpose or interest, quoting by way of an example, "the socio-economic enquiry on hazelnut farming," commissioned to the Metodo 3 detective agency for the modest sum of 30,000 Euros.
 
According to the prosecutor's office in charge of the investigation, we will be looking at a case of embezzlement and money laundering.
 
The Spanish authorities' investigation follows accusations by the "clean hands," collective and targets a case of embezzlement and money laundering, as confirmed by the prosecutor's office.
 
Metodo 3: after Maddie, the search for hazelnuts
 
It was the agriculture adviser, the socialist, Joaquim Llena, who commissioned from Francisco Marco - director of Metodo 3 - a "socio-economic enquiry into hazelnut farming," costing 30,000 Euros.
 
According to a spokesperson for the prosecutor's office, "only the name of the agency linked to such an investigation, drove the investigators to wonder about the real purpose envisioned by the adviser's commission."
 
According to a source close to the investigation, the report presented by Metodo 3 about the Tarragona region, the region in Spain that produces most hazelnuts, was allegedly copied word for word from the internet, information elsewhere confirmed by "El Confidencial," which states that Metodo 3 allegedly copied word for word a report previously published by the region's official newspaper on its internet site.
 
In Spain, Metodo 3 has already been linked to other scandals linked to the world of politics and finance and, recently, has been investigated for its work in the investigation into Madeleine McCann's disappearance where one of Francisco Marco's close associates, António Jimenez, has been accused of having taken several British journalists to meet witnesses, who were paid in advance to say that they had seen the little British girl in Morocco. Metodo 3's associate, head of the Maddie investigation was, thereafter, arrested in a case of trafficking and theft of cocaine.
 
According to sources linked to the legitimate Metodo 3, several detectives in its service have called into question Francisco Marco's competence in the Madeleine McCann investigation, accusing him of having destroyed the agency's credibility, notably after having set up a disastrous communication strategy.
 
According to the prosecutor's office, the embezzlement and money laundering could involve huge amounts of public money.
 
Note: (*) The Generalitat de Catalunya ("Government of Catalonia") is the institution under which the Spanish Autonomous Community of Catalonia is politically organised. It consists of the Parliament, the President of the Generalitat and the Executive Council or Government of Catalonia.
 
*
 
A detective on the trail of a hazelnut El Confidencial
 
02 February 2009
Thanks to 'Ines' for translation
 
The agricultural adviser, socialist Joaquim Llena, also granted the "socio-economic study on hazelnut farming" to Metodo 3 for 30.000 Euros. This agency which has been involved in scandals in the past, took hold of the reins of the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann in Portugal in the spring of 2007. The way in which the searches were carried out caused some friction between the profesionals of the company, as the director Francisco Marcos designed a communication strategy that made them lose credibility, in professional terms.