FBI hunts for investigator paid £500,000 by McCanns


23 November 2009
The Independent
Jerome Taylor
Briton implicated in string of frauds thought to have changed his identity


A PRIVATE investigator whose company was paid more than £500,000 by the McCann family to look for their missing daughter has gone on the run after being implicated in a string of high-profile frauds. Kevin Halligen, 48, is thought to have pocketed at least £300,000 from public donations that were given in the wake of Madeleine McCann's disappearance before he went on the run from his mansion near Washington DC over a separate investigation into an allegation that he defrauded an international oil company out of more than £1m.
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McCann consultant in pounds 1.3m fraud row


23 November 2009 
The Daily Telegraph 
Alastair Jamieson

A security consultant whose company was allegedly paid pounds 300,000 from publicly donated funds to help find Madeleine McCann has been charged with an unrelated pounds 1.3 million fraud.  Kevin Halligen, 48, from Surrey, is wanted in America for allegedly conning a law firm out of $2.1 million in fees which he spent on himself. The Washington-based businessman, who styled himself as a security expert with FBI and MI5 connections, has not been arrested because officials in America do not know where he is.
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FBI hunting PI charged over $2.3m law firm con


23 November 2009 
Daily Telegraph

A private detective whose company was paid up to pound stg. 500,000 ($900,000) from publicly donated funds to find Madeleine McCann has been charged with fraud.  Kevin Halligen, 48, is wanted in the US by the FBI for allegedly conning a law firm out of pound stg. 1.3 million ($2.35 million) by claiming he could help free two men jailed in war-torn Africa.
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FBI hunt £300K Maddie conman


23 November 2009 
Scottish Daily Record 
Craig McDonald
Secret agent fantasist vanishes with cash after promise of help

A self-styled secret agent has pocketed £300,000 from the Madeleine McCann fund, it's been claimed. Businessman and "security consultant" Kevin Halligen, 50, was paid thousands to find the missing girl - but allegedly failed to pass the money on to private detectives carrying out the work for him. A McCann family friend said: "He offered to provide satellite images which could help the case - but all he came up with was something off Google Earth. "He acted as if he were a James Bond-style spy. He promised the Earth but it came to nothing."
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Private detective fleeced Maddie fund of £300,000


23 November 2009
Daily Mail
Neil Sears 


A 'Walter Mitty' private investigator who claimed to be an experienced secret agent was paid £300,000 from the funds raised to try to find Madeleine McCann. Thousands of members of public donated money to Gerry and Kate McCann's fund after their three-year-old daughter went missing during a holiday in Portugal in May 2007. Now it has emerged that a sizeable portion of that money was paid to self-proclaimed security consultant Kevin Halligen, 50, a Briton who boasted that secret service contacts in Washington DC could provide satellite images of Portugal from the night Madeleine disappeared.
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Detective hired in the hunt for Madeleine is charged with £1m con


23 November 2009
The Daily Express
Mark Reynolds


A private detective paid up to £500,000 from publicly donated funds to find Madeleine McCann has been charged with fraud, it emerged yesterday. Kevin Halligen, a 48-year-old security consultant, is wanted in America by the FBI for allegedly conning a law firm out of £1.3 million by claiming he could help free two men jailed in war-torn Africa.
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FBI searches for Madeleine detective


22 November 2009
The Observer
Ben Quinn


A British security consultant who was paid pounds 300,000 to assist efforts by Kate and Gerry McCann to find their daughter Madeleine is being sought by the FBI over an alleged pounds 1.3m fraud. A pounds 500,000 contract given to Kevin Halligen's private detective agency, Oakley International, to help with the search for the missing child was terminated last year after a major benefactor of the McCanns expressed concerns about the quality of the firm's work. However, Halligen is now wanted by the FBI following an indictment issued by US authorities in connection with allegations that he defrauded a London law firm of money that was supposed to be used to lobby for the release of two executives from the Dutch company Trafigura, arrested in the Ivory Coast.
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Maddie Detective £1m Fraud Charge


22 November 2009
 The Mail on Sunday
Daniel Boffey and Mark Hollingsworth

A private detective whose company was paid up to £500,000 from publicly donated funds to find Madeleine McCann has been charged with fraud.  Kevin Halligen, 48, is wanted in America by the FBI for allegedly conning a law firm out of £1.3 million by claiming he could help free two men jailed in war-torn Africa. It is claimed he instead spent the money on a mansion.  However, he has not been arrested because US officials do not know where he is.
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Madeleine McCann


The British Government Involvement in the case of Madeleine McCann
(NOTE: This is a work in progress - more information to follow.)

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E-fit released of Madeleine McCann suspect


Clarence Mitchell
Barcelona Witness claiming to have seen Madeline
(Later dubbed "Victoria Beckham look-alike")



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McCann parents on Oprah show


29 April 2009
Irish Post

AS the second anniversary of Madeleine McCann’s disappearance approaches one of America’s biggest stars has offered her support to the heartbroken family.  And Irish people in the McCann’s native Donegal are also praying for a miracle.

Parents Kate and Gerry McCann have never stopped in their search to find their missing daughter. And in an emotionally-charged interview with chat show host Oprah, which will air next week, Kate McCann speaks of how she misses Madeleine and visits her bedroom every day.
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Maddie TV hope


Maddie TV hope
New evidence to be shown in reconstruction
5 April 2009
The News of the World
Neville Thurlbeck


A telly reconstruction of the hours leading up to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann will contain vital evidence about new suspects.

A Channel 4 documentary will feature witness statements never released by Portuguese police. .

They have been scrutinised by programme-makers and will be broadcast to mark the second anniversary of Maddie's disappearance as part of a renewed bid to find the tot. Her parents Kate and Gerry are collaborating with the Channel 4 team.

Maddie was three when she went missing on May 3, 2007, in the resort of Praia da Luz. Gerry has returned there with two of the "Tapas Nine"—Jane Tanner and Matthew Oldfield. They were dining with the McCanns the night Madeleine vanished and are also helping with the programme.

But Kate has remained at the couple's home in Rothley, Leics. She felt unable to cope with returning to Portugal.

A lookalike actress will play her in the reconstruction, while the daughter of one of the pals will take on the role of Maddie.

The McCann's spokesman Clarence Mitchell said:

"There are pieces of witness testimony which have not been released.

These include the suspicious behaviour of several individuals in the area where Madeleine disappeared both before and after she went missing.

"We hope that it will jog someone's memory. This documentary will give a whole new sense to what happened on that night."

The programme will be shown on May 7.
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Crack spy team in new Maddie hunt; Ex-cops and spooks hired


14 January 2009
Mike Sullivan and Antonella Lazzeri
The Sun

An elite team of ex-cops and secret agents are spearheading a new hunt for Madeleine McCann. The veteran investigators have been hired by missing Maddie's desperate parents Gerry and Kate. The 12 crack former Scotland Yard detectives and MI5 and MI6 agents have been secretly on the ground in Portugal for weeks chasing any new leads which may help to find her. The group was recruited over the past few months after Portuguese cops announced they had shelved their inquiry into Maddie's disappearance.

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Our angel! Please let this be our last Xmas without Madeleine


Please let this be our last XMAS without Madeleine
Our angel! Please let this be our last Xmas without Madeleine
McCanns' new plea
The Sunday Mirror
21 December 2008
Lori Campbell


In heartbreaking pictures showing her last Christmas at home, missing Madeleine McCann is dressed as an angel.

The images from a 2006 family video were yesterday released for the first time by her parents Kate and Gerry, who begged in a Christmas message: "Please let this be our last without her."

The anguished couple hope the footage of Madeline, then three, playing happily with the couple's younger twins Sean and Amelie will spark the breakthrough they are still desperately waiting for.

Relaunching their campaign to find Madeleine, who vanished from their holiday apartment in Portugal on May 3 last year, Kate and Gerry said: "Christmas is a time for children. Please help bring our daughter back."

In the video, Madeleine dances around in her costume, jokingly hits her father with a soft toy and speaks proudly of her new pink shoes.

She is also seen sitting at the bottom of the stairs of the McCanns' home in Rothley, Leicestershire, flanked by Sean and Amelie.

Madeleine playfully encourages her younger brother and sister to copy her gestures, saying: "Clap your hands together and one, two, three."

She then holds up her new pair of shoes and says: "These are my shoes."

In one clip she is seen turning over a wrapped Christmas present and pointing at the camera as smiling mum Kate holds her.

The short film, which has Snow Patrol's hit song Chasing Cars as its soundtrack, also features a montage of clips of Madeleine, including previously unseen images of her as a baby.

It also includes a direct emotional appeal from Kate and Gerry to anyone in the world who knows where their daughter is.

The film closes with the words: "This will be our second Christmas without our daughter. Please help us make sure we don't have a third."

The McCanns' spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: "Kate and Gerry do not wish to say anything further. They feel the video will speak for itself.

"This message is entirely focused on Madeleine, as it should be at this time of year. Kate and Gerry are still very much continuing a lot of hard work behind the scenes in the search for their daughter. This, they feel, is a timely and appropriate reminder that she is still out there and that somebody somewhere may still have that vital piece of information that may lead to her being found."

Kate and Gerry will spend this Christmas with close family and friends, but their spokesman acknowledged it will be a "difficult time of year".

Mr Mitchell added: "Producing a video like this is itself making it more difficult. But they are doing it because they believe Madeleine is still out there and they want that piece of information."


 
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Our little angel


Our little angel
McCanns release new video appeal moving pictures of Maddie's last Christmas at home
21 December 2008
The News of the World

Ross Hall

The thrill of Christmas clear on her beaming face, Madeleine McCann plays to the camera in touching new footage appealing for help over her disappearance.

The previously unseen video clips have been released by Maddie's parents Kate and Gerry as they face their second Christmas without her.

For the the first time viewers will hear Maddie's voice as she is shown speaking of her new pink shoes, dancing in a fairy outfit and riding a bike.

It was mostly filmed at Christmas 2006—the last time the McCanns were all together as a family over the festive period. The video shows Maddie sitting on the stairs of their home in Rothley, Leics, flanked by younger twins Sean and Amelie.

Maddie, three and a half at the time, encourages her brother and sister to copy her gestures, saying: "Clap your hands together and one, two, three."

Difficult

She then holds up her present and says: "These are my shoes." Behind the camera, dad Gerry asks what colour they are. Maddie replies: "Pink." She then leaps up and dances around, waving her shoes. The short film uses Snow Patrol's hit Chasing Cars as its soundtrack. Kate and Gerry decided not to appear in the video but say on it: "Please help bring our daughter back. This will be our second Christmas without our daughter. Please help us make sure we don't have a third."

Madeleine was nine days short of her fourth birthday when she vanished from her family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal on May 3 last year as her parents dined with friends.

The McCanns will spend this Christmas with the twins and close family and friends.

Their spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: "Producing a video like this is itself making Christmas more difficult.

"But they are doing it because they believe Madeleine is still out there and they want that piece of information."


OUR REWARD STILL ON OFFER

THE News of the World's £1.5million reward for Madeleine's safe return still stands.

Celebrities and business leaders including Harry Potter author JK Rowling and Topshop tycoon Sir Philip Green pledged huge sums after we launched our Find Maddie campaign with £250,000.

The offer is subject to standard News of the World reward conditions.

DELIGHT: With pink shoes
SO PRETTY: In fairy outfit
BEAMING: Maddie is full of joys of Christmas in appeal video
EXCITED: She opens present
SMILES: Maddie on her bike
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Ex-cops approached for hunt


11 September 2008
The West Australian

Some of Britain’s most experienced police detectives are being approached to join a team to help find Madeleine McCann. The Find Madeleine Fund has asked for lists of suitable retired or soon-to-retire officers from forces across the country. The fund, which is now being bankrolled by Brian Kennedy, owner of Sale Sharks rugby team, has approached several police forces around the country, including Greater Manchester. Madeleine, 3, of Rothley, Leicestershire, disappeared from her family’s holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in May last year.
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Super cops join search for Maddie


10 September 2008
Daily Star
Ohn Mahoney
Ex-police help hunt

A crack team of retired supercops is being hired to help the hunt for Madeleine McCann. Scotland Yard, Cambridgeshire and Greater Manchester (GMP) forces have been approached for lists of former detectives who could bring fresh leads. The elite squad of officers – all retired or close to collecting their pensions – will be recruited by the Find Madeleine Fund and told to re-examine previous evidence. The fund is being bankrolled by leisure tycoon Brian Kennedy, 48, who owns Sale Sharks rugby union club and boasts an estimated £350 million fortune.
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Wanted: Our ex-top cops to join hunt for Maddie


9 September 2008
Manchester Evening News


Top former detectives from Greater Manchester Police could be recruited to help find Madeleine McCann. Chief Supt Steve Heywood, head of the force's serious crime division, has been asked to provide a list of retired or about-to-retire officers. Madeleine was snatched while on holiday in Portugal just a few days before her fourth birthday in May last year. The Find Madeleine Fund was set up with help from individual donations and is now being bankrolled by Brian Kennedy, boss of Sale Sharks rugby union club.
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McCanns look to ex-cops


9 September 2008 
Wigan Observer

Chief Supt Steve Heywood, head of Greater Manchester's serious crime division - which covers the Wigan area - has been asked to provide a list of retired or about-to-retire officers.Madeleine was snatched while on holiday in Portugal in May last year.The Find Madeleine Fund was set up with help from individual donations and is now being bankrolled by Brian Kennedy, boss of Sale Sharks rugby union club.
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Hunt team has its deal 'dropped'


August 26, 2008
Europe Intelligence Wire


A firm of private investigators hired to hunt for Madeleine McCann has reportedly had its GBP 500,000 contract dropped. The US-based Oakley International had been given a six-month contract and was paid from the Find Madeleine Fund.
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