The Express on Sunday
Private detective once hired to find Madeleine McCann was reportedly wanted last night after an alleged £1.3million fraud in the US. British security consultant Kevin Halligen, 48, who was paid £300,000 almost two years ago to find Madeleine, is wanted by the FBI in America for allegedly conning a US law firm. Rather than use the money to help free two men jailed in Africa, it is claimed he spent it on a mansion. Halligen has not yet been arrested because US officials do not know where he is.
His firm, Oakley International, as hired by the Find Madeleine Fund in 2007. A spokesman for Kate and Gerry McCann last night confirmed they had used Halligen, described by sources close to the investigation as someone who believed he was a "James Bond-style spy", but only after a thorough vetting process. The spokesman added that they had not been duped by him and in fact it was they who terminated his contract when he began failing to deliver.
He said: "I can confirm that Oakley International was contracted for six months as part of the search for Madeleine nearly two years ago. Due diligence was carried out thoroughly and at every stage, payment was not made unless work had been completed to our satisfaction. It was only towards the end of the contractual period that serious question marks arose.
"Following subsequent investigations, we terminated the contract." The fund withheld £100,000 from Oakley International after it allegedly failed to deliver work.
It is understood that Halligen claimed he had friends in the CIA who could provide satellite photos of the night of Maddy's disappearance, but they failed to materialise.
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