Fund accounts 2011

Looking at that it only has a few months left in it. I wonder when the bewk money will roll in?

Oh dear, what to make of these accounts?

Of the ten directors, 3 had abandonned ship, leaving 7 namely MJ Linnett, Brain Kennedy, Edward Smethurst, JA Corner, kate mccann and gerry mccann. Apart from Linnet (I haven't a clue about his background or relationship to mccanns) the rest of them are in the same boat as the mccanns, deep up to their neck.

No mention of pte detectives expenditure, and surprise surprise no mention of legal expenditure incurred up to date either.

Biggest expenditure is "merchandise and campaign costs".

No break down of bewk profit nor serialization profit.

Where has all the money GONE?

With still a few set of legal fees to cover, it looks like deep pocket BK might have to fork out of his pocket for those.

So they have lost/spent approx £340,000 this year? No clear indication of what it's on. Is that right? Do they really not need to give any more details than that?

What happened to the book advance? Or was that in last years accounts, I'm hopeless with accounts. According to articles it was a done deal early November 2010 and involved a "substantial advance"





McCanns sign deal for Madeleine book, 14 November 2010

Yorkshire Post

Source: The Press Association
Published Date: 14 November 2010, 9:27 PM

Kate and Gerry McCann have signed a deal to write a book about the disappearance of their daughter Madeleine, their publishers announced yesterday.

After a major bidding war, Transworld won the rights to the couple's account of how the little girl vanished on a family holiday to Portugal in 2007 and their efforts to find her.

All proceeds from the book will go to the McCanns' official fund to look for Madeleine, which had been in danger of running out next year.

Precise details of the publishing deal have not been released, but a source said it included a "substantial" advance and "enhanced royalties" giving the couple a bigger share of profits from sales.

The book, simply entitled Madeleine, will be published on April 28 next year to coincide with the fourth anniversary of the child's disappearance.

Mrs McCann, 42, said: "My reason for writing is simple – to give an account of the truth. Publishing this book has been a very difficult decision and is one that we have taken after much deliberation and with a very heavy heart.

However, in the last few months, with the depletion of Madeleine's Fund, it is a decision that has virtually been taken out of our hands.

"Every penny we raise through its sales will be spent on our search for Madeleine. Nothing is more important to us than finding our little girl."

Her husband, also 42, added: "We are hopeful that this book may help the investigation to find Madeleine in other ways too.

"Our hope is that it may prompt those who have relevant information – knowingly or not – to come forward and share it with our team. Somebody holds that key piece of the jigsaw."

Transworld has acquired the rights to publish the book –which is being written by the McCanns themselves – in the UK, the Commonwealth and Europe.

The west London-based publisher is home to best-selling authors including The Da Vinci Code writer Dan Brown, fantasy novelist Terry Pratchett and theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking.

A source said the McCanns' book, which will have a recommended retail price of £20, was expected to be a big seller.

Transworld publisher Bill Scott-Kerr said: "It is an enormous privilege to be publishing this book.

"We are so pleased to be joining Kate and Gerry McCann in the Find Madeleine campaign."

Deals for newspaper serialisations and translations of the book are now expected to be negotiated.

The McCanns, from Rothley, Leicestershire, are fighting a legal battle against former Portuguese detective Goncalo Amaral over his book alleging that Madeleine died in the apartment and that her parents faked her abduction - something they strongly deny.

The appeal court in Lisbon last month overturned an injunction obtained by the couple banning publication of Mr Amaral's work, Maddie: The Truth Of The Lie.

But a source close to the McCanns said their decision to write their own book had nothing to do with rebutting Mr Amaral's allegations.

"It certainly hasn't been prompted by him," the source said.

Madeleine was nearly four when she vanished from her family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in the Algarve on May 3, 2007, as her parents dined with friends nearby.

Despite a massive police investigation and huge publicity worldwide, she has not been found.

The official Portuguese inquiry into Madeleine's disappearance was formally shelved in July 2008, although private detectives employed by the McCanns have continued the search.

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uppatoffee wrote:So they have lost/spent approx £340,000 this year? No clear indication of what it's on. Is that right? Do they really not need to give any more details than that?

I understand they have complied with the minimum disclosure requirements for private limited companies which is what the Fund is. If the Fund were a charity, the disclosure requirements would be different = more information.

Now the auditors according to their website have great experience with not for profits and charities etc and have won awards for their accounts.

These accounts are quite frankly crap - but legal!

It appears to me the large advance has not gone into the Fund's bank account. The McCanns promised (cover of book) to give the royalties to the Fund - you could argue the advance is a different thing. And depending on how big the advance is, there mightn't be any royalties as the advance has to be cleared before royalties are paid.

Regardless of what type of company it is legally and its rules to disclosure, the mccanns should in any case show how the money has been spent and accounted for, After all, the money has been begged from the general public and if they are begging for people to donate then they have a responsibility to show where that money has been used. Just like its directors have a duty of responsibility too and for their actions

Fund Details
The family of Madeleine McCann are to-day launching the Madeleine’s Fund: Leaving No Stone Unturned appeal. The funds will be used to help find Madeleine McCann, support her family and bring her abductors to justice. Any surplus funds will be used to help families and missing children in United Kingdom, Portugal and elsewhere in similar circumstances.

Funds will be paid to Madeleine's Fund: Leaving No Stone Unturned Limited: Company Registration Number - 6248215
3. The objects of the Foundation are:
3.1.1 To secure the safe return to her family of Madeleine McCann who was abducted in Praia da Luz, Portugal on Thursday 3rd May 2007;
3.1.2 To procure that Madeleine’s abduction is thoroughly investigated and that her abductors, as well as those who played or play any part in assisting them, are identified and brought to justice; and
3.1.3 To provide support, including financial assistance, to Madeleine’s family.
3.2 If the above objects are fulfilled then the objects of the Foundation shall be to pursue such purposes in similar cases arising in the United Kingdom, Portugal or elsewhere.


Fund pays for luxury hotel
BY ADMIN, ON JANUARY 15TH, 2009
by Sónia Trigueirão

Madeleine’s father and the English lawyer who accompanied him on the visit to Portugal, on Tuesday, were lodged at the D. Pedro Palace, a five-star hotel and one of the most luxurious ones in Lisbon. Everything, of course, financed by the ‘Find Madeleine’ Fund.

As far as CM was able to establish, one night at the D. Pedro, in a single room, may cost between 214 and 254 euros. This means that Gerry and the lawyer spent, at least, more than 400 euros for one night.

According to Clarence Mitchell, Madeleine’s parents’ spokesman, Gerry stayed in a single room and the hotel was chosen not for being five-star, but merely because it is located close to lawyer Rogério Alves’ office and because it is discrete. ‘We didn’t want to transform Gerry’s visit into a media show’.

Concerning the fact that the Fund payed for this, Clarence merely recalled the purpose for which it was created ‘This type of travel obviously fits into the search for Madeleine which is the Fund’s purpose. That was what it was created for and Madeleine’s parents will never use it for anything else apart from that’, he stated.

Beyond that, Mitchell guarantees that the fund to search for the child still has money: ‘We have 800 thousand pounds which are 880.170,36 euros. We don’t have money problems. People continue to help us’. The Fund, which was created in 2007, shortly after Madeleine disappeared from the resort at Praia da Luz, had two million euros at some point in time.

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Then it was used to take legal action against people who purported a theory......

Brian Kennedy Admits Madeleine Fund was for Legal Expenditure

......Brian Kennedy also gave an interview at the Rothley War Memorial on May 17, 2007. This time he was eager to tell us how to donate money to the “Fund” via two banks – the Nat West and the Royal Bank of Scotland. He also told us what the money would be used for:

“Mainly for legal expenditure”

As this was the first raison d’etre for the Madeleine Fund, and confirmed nationally by one of its directors, we can conclude that the Madeleine Fund was set up to provide legal funds for the McCanns.

At no time at all did Brian Kennedy state that the money was to be used to finance the search for Madeleine.

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Just a reminder.....
Fund Details
The family of Madeleine McCann are to-day launching the Madeleine’s Fund: Leaving No Stone Unturned appeal. The funds will be used to help find Madeleine McCann, support her family and bring her abductors to justice. Any surplus funds will be used to help families and missing children in United Kingdom, Portugal and elsewhere in similar circumstances.

Tycoons who bankrolled Madeleine fund refuse to fund McCanns' legal defence

Millionaires who bankrolled the campaign to find Madeleine McCann are refusing to fund her parents' legal defence

One businessman said: "I am not going to contribute any more. It is a difficult issue and it is not something I propose to get engaged in.
"It is the most confusing scenario anybody has ever seen. I am not judge and jury and I hope what I am reading is wrong.
"If they cannot convince the people who already put the money in, they are not starting in a good place. If they can turn the tide in some form maybe there will be loads of backers. But right now this does not look a good place to go."

"We won't be pledging any more right now," said the entrepreneur, adding: "I don't think that at the moment we would allow the money to be swapped to cover defence costs, but this is a difficult position and a very sensitive issue."

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According to this they came in at no 18 and raked in well over two million...

There is still a movie deal with IMG, ready to go (at the right time)

Then we have foreign translation rights, and the bewk is due out again, worldwide, on April 17, 2012 (God help us...), in paperback form - then their agents will release it for kindle, and do an audiobook too, it is never-ending with bewk rights.


Bestselling books of 2011: the top 5,000 listed The Guardian

Nielsen's bestselling books of 2011 are dominated by paperbacks and elderly novels. See what came top

Posted by Simon Rogers
Thursday 29 December 2011 08.30 GMT

- Extract -

Data summary
The top-1,000 selling books of 2011
Pos.
Title
Author
Imprint
Volume
Value, £
1
One Day#
Nicholls, David
Hodder Paperback
935,355
5,157,015.10
(...)
         
18
Madeleine: Our Daughter's Disappearance and the Continuing Search for Her
McCann, Kate
Bantam Press
246,939
2,504,671.44 <<<<<<<------ Profit???????

Not at all! Any author can hope to make max about one pound per hardcopy, less for paperback. Then remaindered and down priced books have to be taken into account so probably even less.
I'm guessing they may have had half to one million advance, which means that royalties may never happen. Since the Fund is a Company, quite a lot of that will have to go in tax. About half, I think.
Transworld will not yet have made much of a profit on the thing at all. I would think that promoting the bewk is part of the deal, it's usually written into the contract. So - Transworld might have expected to sell several million of the bewk and have only sold a quarter of a million. They're losing money!

Unusually, there was no book signing anywhere, which would have been a huge advantage. Imo she didn't dare. Gerry had also planned to do a sponsored bicycle tour from Portugal to the UK, but decided that after all he might not be that popular.
From the many negative comments on the book (even in the Mail!) it seems to me that their popularity is waning fast.

@itvnewsITV News

Kate and Gerry McCann's fund to help find their missing daughter #Madeleine dwindled to £125,000 last year - official accounts show

1 hour ago via

'HELP FIND MADELEINE' FUND DWINDLES



Accounts show that Gerry and Kate McCann's fund to help find their daughter Madeleine has dwindled to £125,000 last year, official accounts have shown.




Tuesday January 10,2012


Kate and Gerry McCann's fund to help find their missing daughter Madeleine dwindled to £125,000 last year, official accounts have shown.


Kate and Gerry McCann's fund to help find their missing daughter Madeleine dwindled to £125,000 last year, official accounts have shown.

The amount the couple raised for Madeleine's Fund dropped from £233,099 in 2009-10 to £177,534 in 2010-11. At the end of March last year the balance stood at £125,175, down from £470,034 a year earlier, according to newly-published accounts filed with Companies House.

The McCanns, both 43, from Rothley, Leicestershire, had feared that the dwindling fund would leave them unable to continue paying private detectives to search for Madeleine.

To avoid this Mrs McCann published a book about their daughter's disappearance in May last year, with all proceeds from sales and a serialisation deal with The Sun and the Sunday Times going to support the search.

The fund's directors wrote in a preface to the 2010-11 accounts: "Over the past financial year, as with the previous one, the costs of the search continued to be higher than the fund's annual income.

"Income, particularly donations, has been lower than in previous years, as might be expected. It became apparent to the directors that without a significant financial boost, the fund would be empty by the end of spring 2011.

"In view of this, Kate McCann made the decision to write a book about Madeleine's disappearance and her parents' search to find her."

Madeleine's Fund was launched a fortnight after the little girl vanished from her family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, southern Portugal, on May 3 2007. Donations flooded in from supporters around the world who wanted to do something to help her parents, and the income for 2007-08 totalled £1,846,178.

More than £487,000 was spent on the campaign to locate Madeleine and merchandise costs in 2010-11, the accounts show.

Last year the fund paid for the private investigators, a 24/7 telephone hotline for the public to pass on information, an ongoing awareness-raising campaign and three fundraising events.


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[quote]

More than £487,000 was spent on the campaign to locate Madeleine and merchandise costs in 2010-11, the accounts show.

candyfloss wrote:
More than £487,000 was spent on the campaign to locate Madeleine and merchandise costs in 2010-11, the accounts show.

Edgar seems to be doing very well out all this.
Merchandise can only consist of left over T shirts and wristbands at 10p, so the rest must be for their Private Detective.
Nice little earner, though it will clearly come to an end this year.

tigger wrote:Not at all! Any author can hope to make max about one pound per hardcopy, less for paperback. Then remaindered and down priced books have to be taken into account so probably even less.
I'm guessing they may have had half to one million advance, which means that royalties may never happen. Since the Fund is a Company, quite a lot of that will have to go in tax. About half, I think.
Transworld will not yet have made much of a profit on the thing at all. I would think that promoting the bewk is part of the deal, it's usually written into the contract. So - Transworld might have expected to sell several million of the bewk and have only sold a quarter of a million. Th
ey're losing money!

Unusually, there was no book signing anywhere, which would have been a huge advantage. Imo she didn't dare. Gerry had also planned to do a sponsored bicycle tour from Portugal to the UK, but decided that after all he might not be that popular.
From the many negative comments on the book (even in the Mail!) it seems to me that their popularity is waning fast.

Tigger, I bow (not in any sense Jah Bu Lon like!) to your knowledge, but 247k sales at 20 (or was it 18?) quid a pop is around 5 million, and if their agent (literary) was any good he would have negotiated a substantially higher set of figures than an average joe blow author. I still feel that they are coining it, despite all your very valid points above, which I entirely agree with BTW. If brother (Scottish Rite, natch) Gerald had tried a bike ride (no, I am not talking about 'her indoors') the chancing Glasgie latterday Burke and Hare enthusiast would no doubt have been pelted with eggs and rotten fruit all the way to John O'Groats.

Hello.

Few people I know say McCann case reminds themf the Ramsey/Jonbennet case.

Guess maybe they are right after reading Ramsey's have placed money from donations into a family trust fund, I think it said eighteen thousand dollars and John Ramsey is once again running for office.

Guess bad publicity pays better than good!

OMG!

Just had a horrible thought what GM ran for PM, He certainly has the funds to do it now and on the Missing Children ticket, Yikes!

PeterMac wrote:

candyfloss wrote:
More than £487,000 was spent on the campaign to locate Madeleine and merchandise costs in 2010-11, the accounts show.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Edgar seems to be doing very well out all this.
Merchandise can only consist of left over T shirts and wristbands at 10p, so the rest must be for their Private Detective.
Nice little earner, though it will clearly come to an end this year.

The McCanns themselves have admitted that only their detectives are looking for Madeleine, thats Edgar and Cowley I take it.

I am not sure that Edgar or Cowley have received any substantial sums from the fund.

Remember that the McCanns via their media buddies, claimed to be using crack detecives, Alpha Group Investigations. It turned out that this company did not exist (they probably got the name from Alpha Investigations Group, that does exist but has nothing to do with the McCanns or their PI`s)

Arthur Cowleys' company however, was set up purely for McCann purposes and was conveniently named Alphaig. It is now defunct but was operating on cash of £850 and assets of £500. Very little, if any cash could have been paid to Edgar and Cowley via their PI company.

We can prove without doubt that this PI company operated from Arthur Cowleys cottage in the Halkyn mountains was a sham; so if only the McCanns detectives were looking for Madeleine and the only detectives were Edgar and Cowley, and their company was a sham with no assets and probably no turnover, where did the cash that was allegedly spent on private investgators go?

It's still not an awful lot of books sold, certainly the translations haven't done at all well and I don't know how that is computed by Transworld - if the foreign language editions will be included in the total.
There's the cost of the paper, distribution, etc. (Cost of paper is actually more important than one might think) Transworld didn't get the serialization rights, which is strange and would have reduced their advance.
How many books sold at the full price? It may have made nr. 18 but not for long, months and months ago it wasn't in the top 100. It's in fact surprising that so few have sold with an unprecedented amount of publicity.
Personally, I only saw one copy in The Hague, in a department store not in the main bookshop where one would expect it. I thoughtfully hid it behind a row of science fiction books. Didn't want to distress unwary shoppers....

From the last posts: should we tell them that they're paying over the odds for their 'detectives'? First Metodo3 with half a million and now Edgar not far behind. I smell sea bass!
I also think it's too late for a film, it should have been riding on the popularity of the book and it's too late for that. Imagine the publicity machine staggering on stage once again. The public is getting quite bored, it's five years now. But wouldn't it be great if the French made a film of 'Belle Famille?'

sharonl wrote:

PeterMac wrote:

candyfloss wrote:
More than £487,000 was spent on the campaign to locate Madeleine and merchandise costs in 2010-11, the accounts show.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Edgar seems to be doing very well out all this.
Merchandise can only consist of left over T shirts and wristbands at 10p, so the rest must be for their Private Detective.
Nice little earner, though it will clearly come to an end this year.

The McCanns themselves have admitted that only their detectives are looking for Madeleine, thats Edgar and Cowley I take it.

I am not sure that Edgar or Cowley have received any substantial sums from the fund.

Remember that the McCanns via their media buddies, claimed to be using crack detecives, Alpha Group Investigations. It turned out that this company did not exist (they probably got the name from Alpha Investigations Group, that does exist but has nothing to do with the McCanns or their PI`s)

Arthur Cowleys' company however, was set up purely for McCann purposes and was conveniently named Alphaig. It is now defunct but was operating on cash of £850 and assets of £500. Very little, if any cash could have been paid to Edgar and Cowley via their PI company.

We can prove without doubt that this PI company operated from Arthur Cowleys cottage in the Halkyn mountains was a sham; so if only the McCanns detectives were looking for Madeleine and the only detectives were Edgar and Cowley, and their company was a sham with no assets and probably no turnover, where did the cash that was allegedly spent on private investgators go?

I think Arthur Cowley no longer works for the Mccanns. There is a thread somewhere will try to locate it.

sijm wrote:OMG!

Just had a horrible thought what GM ran for PM, He certainly has the funds to do it now and on the Missing Children ticket, Yikes!

Have you ever heard of Accuracy International?

To the spooks and other assorted child neglect supporters, that was a joke.

candyfloss wrote:

sharonl wrote:

PeterMac wrote:

candyfloss wrote:
More than £487,000 was spent on the campaign to locate Madeleine and merchandise costs in 2010-11, the accounts show.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Edgar seems to be doing very well out all this.
Merchandise can only consist of left over T shirts and wristbands at 10p, so the rest must be for their Private Detective.
Nice little earner, though it will clearly come to an end this year.

The McCanns themselves have admitted that only their detectives are looking for Madeleine, thats Edgar and Cowley I take it.

I am not sure that Edgar or Cowley have received any substantial sums from the fund.

Remember that the McCanns via their media buddies, claimed to be using crack detecives, Alpha Group Investigations. It turned out that this company did not exist (they probably got the name from Alpha Investigations Group, that does exist but has nothing to do with the McCanns or their PI`s)

Arthur Cowleys' company however, was set up purely for McCann purposes and was conveniently named Alphaig. It is now defunct but was operating on cash of £850 and assets of £500. Very little, if any cash could have been paid to Edgar and Cowley via their PI company.

We can prove without doubt that this PI company operated from Arthur Cowleys cottage in the Halkyn mountains was a sham; so if only the McCanns detectives were looking for Madeleine and the only detectives were Edgar and Cowley, and their company was a sham with no assets and probably no turnover, where did the cash that was allegedly spent on private investgators go?

I think Arthur Cowley no longer works for the Mccanns. There is a thread somewhere will try to locate it.

Here it is...................

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Thanks Candyfloss

I remember that thread now.

If Arthur Cowley left in 2011, it doesn't alter that fact that the Media were telling us that the McCanns had appointed a well established firm of Investigators by the name of Alpha Group Investigations.

I think that Cowley may have left after he was outed as the sole director of bogus company Alphaig.

jd wrote:Tycoons who bankrolled Madeleine fund refuse to fund McCanns' legal defence

Millionaires who bankrolled the campaign to find Madeleine McCann are refusing to fund her parents' legal defence

One businessman said: "I am not going to contribute any more. It is a difficult issue and it is not something I propose to get engaged in.
"It is the most confusing scenario anybody has ever seen. I am not judge and jury and I hope what I am reading is wrong.
"If they cannot convince the people who already put the money in, they are not starting in a good place. If they can turn the tide in some form maybe there will be loads of backers. But right now this does not look a good place to go."

"We won't be pledging any more right now," said the entrepreneur, adding: "I don't think that at the moment we would allow the money to be swapped to cover defence costs, but this is a difficult position and a very sensitive issue."

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Can ANY of these 'tycoons' (I have another name for them) be named?

I heard that Richard Branson, who, from memory, bunged in 100k, is, allegedly

Brace yourselves!!!!!

This public school failure with virtually zero qualifications, but curiously seems to lend his private island/mansion (bit like 'call me Cliff!') to the 'elite class' - 'Cherie, Tone, Mandy - etc)

sharonl wrote:Thanks Candyfloss

I remember that thread now.

If Arthur Cowley left in 2011, it doesn't alter that fact that the Media were telling us that the McCanns had appointed a well established firm of Investigators by the name of Alpha Group Investigations.

I think that Cowley may have left after he was outed as the sole director of bogus company Alphaig.

The thread from Tony was in May, and then yes, Arthur Cowley abandoning investigation is June ...............

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From the findmadeleine website

"Fortunately though, we have a small team of very committed and experienced people working hard to help us find Madeleine.

Dave Edgar is the ‘Senior Investigating Officer’ (SIO) leading our independent investigation. Dave served as a police officer for 30 years, working in the Royal Ulster Constabulary (in the so called ‘bandit country' of south Armagh) followed by the Cheshire Police force. He is an accredited SIO and has managed many homicide and serious crime investigations. These include high profile cases such as the murders of ‘Shafilea Ahmed' and ‘Gary Newlove', being commended by the Judge in the latter case.

Dave has a full-time Portuguese speaker as part of the team who also helps with administrative tasks, and a part-time data inputter. He also has access to specialist teams who he can call on to assist when necessary.

In addition, there are several individuals and organisations with invaluable marketing and advertising skills (as well as highly motivated family members and friends) who help with the general campaign to find Madeleine. "

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Money made from the book will be in the March 2012 accounts. If they make a profit next year they will be able to use the losses to offset any Corparation Tax due.

Ollie wrote:Money made from the book will be in the March 2012 accounts. If they make a profit next year they will be able to use the losses to offset any Corparation Tax due.

the book deal was I believe signed in oct 2010 so part of the advance would have been paid then and should be in the accounts to march 2011.

We dont know what the advance was (but probably I feel at least £500,000) and it would have been part paid on signing the deal. Maybe 50% up front and the balance on publication. the figure for income in the accounts indicates that the advance received in the year was NOT put into the Fund despite what the book cover promised (all royalties to the Fund). Unless there was a most unusual contract the advance would be kept even if the royalties did not cover it. thats the risk publishers take when they pay a big advance to a new 'author' like Kate..