FBI searches for Madeleine detective

11/22/2009 Posted by Winnower

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.
Continue Reading... Labels: , , , ,


Ex Maddie detective 'on the run'

11/22/2009 Posted by Winnower

22 November 2009 
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.
Continue Reading... Labels: , ,


Halligen : Wanted by the SAS and FBI

11/22/2009 Posted by Winnower

22 November 2009 
The Sunday Times

A Dubliner who allegedly conned the Madeleine McCann fund out of more than ¤300,000 by posing as a secret service agent is on the run from the law — and the woman he pretended to marry

The wedding guests arrived in black limousines to see a British secret agent marry his US government lawyer bride, surrounded by the strictest of security. From the grand 19th-century Evermay mansion, where the ceremony took place, the guests had commanding views of America's power base, Washington, DC. It is a city where former intelligence agents and ex-military men mix warily with their former colleagues and politicians looking for lucrative government security contracts.
Continue Reading... Labels: , , , ,


McCann fund hired 'spy' conman

11/22/2009 Posted by Winnower

22 November 2009
The Sunday Times

A businessman who pretended to be a secret agent has allegedly pocketed up to £300,000 (¤333,250) from funds intended to pay investigators working to find Madeleine McCann. Kevin Halligen, a Dublin born security consultant, was paid £500,000 by the Find Madeleine fund but allegedly failed to pass it on to private eyes who worked for him. A friend of Kate and Gerry McCann, Madeleine's parents, said: "He acted as if he were a James Bond-style spy. He promised the earth but it came to nothing."
Continue Reading... Labels: , ,


Maddie Detective £1m Fraud Charge

11/22/2009 Posted by Winnower

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.
Continue Reading... Labels: , , , , ,


'Agent' conned McCanns

11/22/2009 Posted by Winnower

22 November 2009 
The Sunday Times 

A businessman who pretended to be a secret agent has allegedly pocketed up to £300,000 from funds intended to pay investigators working on the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. Kevin Halligen, 50, a British security consultant, was paid to find Madeleine but allegedly failed to pass the money on to the private detectives who did the work on his behalf. A friend of Kate and Gerry McCann, Madeleine's parents, said they had become increasingly concerned about Halligen. "He acted as if he were a James Bond style spy," said the friend. "He promised the earth but it came to nothing."
Continue Reading... Labels: , ,


United Kingdom Man Indicted for Fraud

11/12/2009 Posted by Winnower

12 November 2009
Targeted News Service

The U.S. Department of Justice's U.S. Attorney's office for the District of Columbia issued the following news release:

Kevin R. Halligen, 48, of Surrey, United Kingdom, was indicted today on charges of wire fraud and money laundering by a grand jury sitting in the District of Columbia, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips and Joseph Persichini, Jr., Assistant Director in Charge of the Washington Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Continue Reading... Labels: ,


Crack spy team in new Maddie hunt; Ex-cops and spooks hired

1/14/2009 Posted by Winnower

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.

Continue Reading... Labels: , , , , , , ,


Red Defence in Red Zone

10/09/2008 Posted by Winnower

9 October 2008 
Intelligence Online 

An affiliate of Red Defence International, a firm headed by Britain’s Kevin Halligen, the investigative concern Oakley International Group was hired in March, 2008 to help find Madeline McCann, the three-year-old British child who vanished in May, 2007 from a hotel on the Portuguese coast. In late August, the Find Madeline Fund, which bankrolls the search for the child, suddenly cut all links with Oakley International, officially for “inadequate results.”It wasn’t the first time that companies owned by Halligen, who took part in MI 5 operations in Northern Ireland, have encountered problems with their customers.
Continue Reading... Labels: ,


Ex-cops approached for hunt

9/11/2008 Posted by Winnower

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.
Continue Reading... Labels: , , , , ,


Super cops join search for Maddie

9/10/2008 Posted by Winnower

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.
Continue Reading... Labels: , , , ,


Wanted: Our ex-top cops to join hunt for Maddie

9/09/2008 Posted by Winnower

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.
Continue Reading... Labels: , , , , ,


McCanns look to ex-cops

9/09/2008 Posted by Winnower

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.
Continue Reading... Labels: , , , ,


Hunt team has its deal 'dropped'

8/26/2008 Posted by Winnower

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.
Continue Reading... Labels: , , , ,


You keep asking yourself: 'Why did they think it was all right to leave the children?'

4/29/2008 Posted by Winnower

29 April 2008
Liverpool Echo
Paddy Shennan

EXCLUSIVE In the concluding part of his series marking the first anniversary of Madeleine McCann's disappearance, chief feature writer Paddy Shennan hears how her grandmother is still struggling to come to terms with the decision taken by nine people on that fateful night.
Continue Reading... Labels: , , ,


Driven to succeed

4/01/2008 Posted by Winnower


April 01, 2008
Manchester Evening News

ON the eve of his 13th birthday tragedy struck Edward Smethurst. While the young boy was spending the night at his grandparents' house, fire swept through the home he shared with his father who died in the blaze.

His parents had divorced when Edward was six and, after the death of his father, he then went to live with his grandparents. However, his grandmother died a couple of years later and his grandfather had a stroke, leaving Edward to fend for himself. By the age of 16, he was living alone in bed and breakfast accommodation.
Continue Reading... Labels: , , , ,


Fury mounts over slurs on Maddie's mum & dad

3/21/2008 Posted by Winnower

21 March 2008
Liverpool Echo
Luke Traynor

Blast from media guru

CALLS were made today to boycott two national newspapers in the wake of their apologies to the parents of Madeleine McCann.

The Daily Express and Daily Star used their front pages earlier this week to say sorry to Kate and Gerry McCann for suggesting they caused their daughter's death.

Both papers also agreed to pay a substantial sum to the family's Find Madeleine's fund as part of the compensation.

But one respected national media columnist said the people of Liverpool should make their feelings known by no longer buying those newspapers.

Guardian journalist Roy Greenslade, former editor of The Mirror, suggested the idea on his blog.

Speaking to the ECHO, he said: "These papers carried out a lengthy campaign and treated the McCanns very shabbily. For a multi-millionaire to be told to pay £550,000 is not a great deal of money.

"There should be a boycott."

Madeleine, four, disappeared from her bed in a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, while her parents Kate and Gerry ate with friends at a nearby tapas restaurant on May 3.

The parents were regularly tarnished by inaccurate media reports which claimed they were involved in a plot to kidnap her.

Today, Susan Healy, Liverpool-born Kate's mother, said that the untrue stories had caused great hurt to the family and friends.

She added: "Kate is quite bitter about it as you'd expect. To see all those headlines again this week shocked me.

"It was a diabolical time." Nicky Gill, Kate's friend, said: "It's good that they've apologised, but so what? Madeleine is still missing.

"They money they've promised is totally irrelevant.

"There will be some people who will boycott it, but it's difficult to say what kind of impact this will have."

A spokesman for the Daily Express and Star said: "We have nothing to add to what has been said in court and in our titles."

Clarence Mitchell, the McCann's spokesman, said: "Kate and Gerry are pleased that the Express Newspapers apologised as fulsomely as they did.

"Immense distress was caused to the couple."
Continue Reading... Labels: , , ,


McCanns bring in cold-case detective

1/03/2008 Posted by Winnower

JAN 3, 2008
Daily Mail
Dan Newling and Vanessa Allen

Kate and Gerry McCann have hired a former Met Police officer to carry out a 'cold case' review into Madeleine's disappearance. Noel Hogan, a former CID detective, has spent hundreds of hours interviewing British witnesses in the case.
Continue Reading... Labels: , , , , , , , ,


Brown 'puts up shutters' as McCanns plead for help

12/09/2007 Posted by Winnower

Dec 9, 2007
Sunday Times
Mark Macaskill

A businessman helping to fund the hunt for Madeleine McCann has accused Gordon Brown and David Miliband of ignoring her parents' plight. Stephen Winyard, who owns a Scottish health spa, said the "shutters had gone up" after Portuguese police named Gerry and Kate McCann as suspects. He said the only offer in response to a request for a ministerial meeting was to see a junior official. "Our request to meet with ministers -the prime minister, the home secretary and the foreign secretary -has still not been met," said Winyard.
Continue Reading... Labels: , , , ,


Inside the secretive world of Madeleine's Mercenary

12/01/2007 Posted by Winnower

1 December 2007 
The Daily Express
Adrian Lee 

The investigators hired for £14,000 a week by the McCanns insist that they are close to cracking the case. But how credible really is the obscure Spanish detective firm, Metodo 3?

Tucked away in Francisco Marco's overnight bag is a doll. In his mind the 35-year-old has rehearsed countless times the moment he will present it to a sobbing little girl before reaching for his mobile phone and dialling her parents' home in Leicestershire. "I have found Madeleine, " he will state and wait for the screams of joy. For Marco there appears to be no doubt that this is how the story will end. His confident and very public declarations that he will succeed, where police have failed, in finding Madeleine McCann have put him and his private detective agency Metodo 3 in the international spotlight.
Continue Reading... Labels: , , , , ,


Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)
 
Return to top of page Copyright © 2010 | Flash News Converted into Blogger Template by HackTutors