BACKGROUND

Less than two weeks after Madeleine McCann disappeared, the family and friends of the McCann family set up a company called Madeleine’s Fund: Leaving No Stone Unturned Limited. Without properly setting clear objectives and policies from the start, the company was set to become the vehicle for the “official�?find Madeleine campaign—whatever that actually meant. It has become a typically British thing to have financial campaigns to assist people in well publicised times of need. Usually there is no specific company set up to do this. In this respect, the �?SPAN>Madeleine Fund�?seemed far too sophisticated and if anything it appears to have been premeditated.

British banks are past masters of setting up and administering bank accounts for needy causes and tend to do so without intervention by outsiders. What made the Madeleine Fund and subsequent campaign so distasteful to many is that little of the money has been used for its stated purpose.

The company has several family members on its board of directors and this and many other factors have helped to fuel rumours about the integrity of the management and disbursement of the donated money.

Also, it is unknown who the shareholders are as they have never been publicly declared.

TRUTH For Madeleine tried to contact the company for an update on its performance. Bates Wells & Braithwaite referred us to the Fund and stated that they couldn’t answer our questions due to confidentiality.

John McCann spoke briefly to us on the phone until he realised we were asking about the Fund. His response was to claim we had the wrong telephone number and that he was in fact a “Mr Jones�? This was interesting as he must in the extremely rare group of Scotsmen with a Welsh name!

A lot of donors to the fund would like to have actually seen some real stones turned over by the McCanns in the search for Madeleine. Instead, there has been no publication of the company performance or regular updates as to what actions have been taken in the so-called “search for Madeleine�?

If Madeleine died in May 2007 and the family knew about this then the whole fund is a fraud!

THE COMPANY

Madeleine’s Fund: Leaving No Stone Unturned Limited registered number 06248215 is registered in England at 2/6 Cannon Street, London, EC4M 6YH. Their VAT number is GB 243 8054 69. That address is where the company’s solicitors Bates Wells & Braithwaite London LLP (BWB) are based. In addition to providing legal services for the company, BWB also provides the role of company secretary. The company is classified as a “PRI/LTD by GUAR/NSC�?Company which expanded means “Private, limited by guarantee, no share capital�?and its nature of business is defined as (SIC(03)). The company accounting reference date is 31/March and the first accounts are due on 31 January 2009. The first Company Return is due on 12 June 2008.

The company auditors are Haysmacintyre, Fairfax House, 15 Fulwood Place, London,WC1V 6AY. Instead of using local firms to perform the legal and auditor duties, the directors have chosen to use expensive, high-end, London based firms. In a situation where members of the public have donated small amounts of money, it is not unreasonable to question whether or not it is prudent to be having such a lavish infrastructure in the running of what is essentially a very small company. In line with most things set up by the McCanns since May 3, their penchant for spending vast sums of money seems normal to them.

Madeleine’s Fund: Leaving No Stone Unturned Limited is NOT a charity. It is a private company and as such, the directors can pay who they like without having to follow any rules or guidelines. What donors may not fully understand is that their money has effectively little or no regulation on what or how it is spent. Yes, the company has published policies dictating how the money can be used, but the directors are not regulated by any outside body so they can create and modify any policy to suit themselves. Apart from satisfying legal requirements in terms of running a limited company, the directors and company are answerable to nobody - especially the people who donated good money to find Madeleine.

FIRST BOARD OF DIRECTORS

1. Peter Hubner, a retired consultant
2. Brian Kennedy, a retired head teacher
3. John McCann, a medical representative
4. Esther McVey, managing director of a public relations & communications company
5. Doug Skehan, clinical director in cardiology at Glenfield Hospital
6. Philip Tomlinson, a retired solicitor and former coroner in Leicestershire
7. Michael Linnett, a retired accountant

The company secretary is also a company - BWB Secretarial Services (see above).

CURRENT BOARD OF DIRECTORS

According to the FindMadeleine website, the current board of directors (as at July, 2007) is;

1. Peter Hubner, a retired consultant
2. Brian Kennedy, a retired head teacher
3. John McCann, a medical representative
4. Jon Corner, owner/proprietor of River Media in Liverpool
5. Doug Skehan, clinical director in cardiology at Glenfield Hospital
6. Edward Smethurst, one of Brian Kennedy’s solicitors at the Latium Group
7. Michael Linnett, a retired accountant

Of the current description of this board, the site says;

They have appropriate legal, business and charitable experience. An experienced Fund Administrator has been appointed to ensure the highest standards of transparency and accountability. This should enable the Directors to maintain an appropriate governance distance in the day-to-day operations of the Fund.

Reference: (click here)

WRISTBANDS & MERCHANDISE

The Madeleine Fund accepted donations to help find missing Madeleine. One vehicle used to advertise and raise her profile were the yellow wristbands pictured on the left. The wristbands went on sale soon after the company was formed and are still on sale via the company website for a whopping £2 each.

This may not seem like a lot of money but considering custom silicone wristbands can be bought in bulk for less than 14 pence each, it is scandalous that the Madeleine’s Fund are selling them at a profit of over 1000%.

McCANN’S MORTGAGE

At the end of October 2007, Clarence Mitchell confirmed that the Fund paid for two of the McCann’s mortgage payments saying on the Sky News site, “The fund has always had the ability to assist the family financially if necessary, and they’ve only used it to pay for two mortgage payments earlier this year. The story continued; the use of donations had previously been called into question after it was revealed about a third of the money had been used to meet the McCanns�?living costs, publicity fees and to pay staff.

Considering the McCanns are believed to earn in excess of £120,000 a year it seems inconceivable that two high-earning doctors should be so strapped for cash that they had to raid the fund to make two mortgage payments reported to total £4,000. (Click here to see the Sky News article).

Why were two supposedly wealthy doctors so hard up that they needed donations from the public to pay for their mortgage and living expenses?

MADELEINE TRADEMARK

Three days after the company was set up, a trademark was registered with the UK Intellectual Property Office. The trademark (number 2456061) is type “WO�?and is in classes 09, 16, 36 and 41. (Click here to view the trademark details and click here for the FindMadeleine website).

The registration of a trademark based on Madeleine’s eye disorder seems distasteful to many. It seems inconceivable that a few days after your daughter goes missing, you would be in the frame of mind to want to turn your daughter’s eye defect into a trademark.

Portuguese police advised the parents against revealing this detail but the parents went against this advice and made it known that Madeleine had an eye coloboma.