McCanns pay off Mortgage with Maddie Fund

[Kwackerz]

KATE and Gerry McCann have reportedly used the $2.2 million Find Madeleine fund set up to help locate their daughter to pay off their mortgage.

Fund organisers refused to say how much had been spent but confirmed that money donated by concerned people worldwide was made available for the family's living expenses.

Britain's Daily Mirror newspaper revealed neither has worked since Madeleine vanished on May 3, although Mr McCann is due to return to his post as a hospital consultant this week.

Mortgage repayments on the couple's $1.12 million home in Rothley, Leicestershire, are believed to be $4475 a month.

The Find Madeleine fund, which has received more than $2.2 million in donations from all over the world, was set up primarily to fund a publicity campaign after the little girl vanished from a Portuguese resort on May 3.

It also met legal fees involved in setting up the not-for-profit business, which does not have charitable status.

But the fund's directors - who include colleagues, friends and relatives of the McCanns - ruled that they cannot use it to pay the legal team defending them against Portuguese allegations that they were involved in Madeleine's disappearance.

That has been met by a separate fund, using donations from wealthy benefactors including Sir Richard Branson.

The salary of the McCanns' spokesman Clarence Mitchell is paid by another millionaire, double-glazing tycoon Brian Kennedy.

But the Find Madeleine fund has paid for other staff, including former campaign manager Justine McGuinness. In the weeks after Madeleine's disappearance it paid for her parents' campaign trips to Madrid, Amsterdam, Berlin, Washington DC and the Moroccan capital Rabat.

It was revealed last month that about $672,000 had been spent and a further $179,000 was shelled out this month for a new publicity campaign in Portugal, Spain and Morocco.

Donations have slowed dramatically, however, since the McCanns, both 39, were made official suspects in the case.

Exact details of where the money has gone will not be disclosed until the end of the financial year when the accounts are made public.

Fund officials said an administrator has been appointed to ensure "the highest standards of transparency and accountability".

Mr Mitchell said last night: "The fund exists to support Kate and Gerry where their living costs would become difficult.

"Gerry is going back to work this week and they hope they will not have to rely on it for their living costs for much longer."

The McCanns have said any surplus money from the fund would be given to charities to help families of other missing children.

Friends of the McCanns have said they are anxious to keep the fund's money for the campaign to find Madeleine.

They denied Mr McCann was returning to work for financial reasons, insisting he wanted to regain a "sense of normality".

He has been on unpaid leave and his wife, a part-time GP, has not been paid while she has been off work.

It is understood Mr McCann will initially work three half-days a week at Leicester's Glenfields Hospital and will not have any direct contact with patients until his employers believe he is ready.

His return has been approved by the General Medical Council, which regulates the medical profession.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22672506-2,00.html

Maybe, like one of my friends said, it's all a calculated and planned hoax to secure funding to pay off the mortgage. That's a hell of a lot of money to pay out a month.

It'd be nice if that is the case. At least Maddie will return home alive and well

[Gio]

Makes you proud to be British doesn't it.

I expect now that they've got their financial futures set up, they'll use the rest of the money for holidays etc.

I still think these awful people should as a minimum be charged with aiding an abetting the abduction of a minor (I don't believe Maddy is alive) and that their other children shouyld be taken off them. These are 2 people who supposedly are very intelligent yet IMO they show themselves to be incapable of any form of common sense.

I'm sure that if a proper police force had been involved this case would have been finished by now.

[fastasfcuk]

spot on gio.

[BikerGran]

I agree that the Portuguese police messed up from the start. Don't know whether it would have made any difference except that maybe they'd have found out what happened to the child.

I have no opinions about what the money in the fund is used for. What else could they do, pay it back? Don't see what else can be done to find her now.

I think it's unfortunate that so many people feel vindictive towards this couple who have, after all, lost a child in terrible circumstances.

[fastasfcuk]

sorry bikergran i do'nt agree, these people were offered the services of the of the sites child minders and turned it down,is it me or am i different, when on holliday dont you sit at a table with your kids when out for a meal.

[lazarus]

Makes you proud to be British doesn't it.

I expect now that they've got their financial futures set up, they'll use the rest of the money for holidays etc.

I still think these awful people should as a minimum be charged with aiding an abetting the abduction of a minor (I don't believe Maddy is alive) and that their other children shouyld be taken off them. These are 2 people who supposedly are very intelligent yet IMO they show themselves to be incapable of any form of common sense.

I'm sure that if a proper police force had been involved this case would have been finished by now.

What a load of b**ls! We have no reason to believe them guilty of anything - or do we prefer to belive the Portugese police attempts to blame anyone but a Portugese? But either way, these 2 are doctors, one a consultant heart surgeon. Do you really think that 2k a month mortgage is anything other than petty cash to a consultant when he is able to work? Or indeed that a half million pound house is anything much these days?

The father has been on unpaid leave since the child first disappeared. How is he expected to pay his mortgage when he's stuck in Portugal? Indeed, what is the Maddy fund for if it is not for things like this?

Its not for us to allocate guilt particularly based on the hysterical media coverage we have had. So how about a bit of human charity for parents who have lost their kid and now seem to be the butt of people jealous about their house

That was a nasty post Gio

[Kwackerz]

It might not just be the Portugese Police though?

NEW forensic tests appear to support the theory that Kate and Gerry McCann could have been involved in daughter Madeleine's disappearance.

Sources say the results from a second batch of testing, conducted at a laboratory in Birmingham, include the discovery of the girl's DNA - believed to have been obtained from Madeleine's bodily fluids and hair - in the McCanns' hire car which was rented 25 days after she went missing.

Tests on bodily fluids found in the hire car are understood to show they came from a corpse and that the body was moved.

Sources also indicate the volume of material found is too great for it to have been transferred via Madeleine's toys or clothing.

It is also believed that the tests have produced no evidence to indicate the involvement of any other person.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22699242-2,00.html

I personally am fence sitting. I cant believe that very clever people can leave the children unattended, being members of the Medical profession you'd think they would be 'up' on what can happen to unattended kids, etc

But there again I can see how the facilities in the Hotel couldve been 'below' them (doesnt everyone complain?) and that with the kids being relatively close it's easy for them to feel secure being in shouting distance..

It's all very sad.

Like I said above. I hope they are committing a fraud and that Maddie does come back alive and well. I somehow cannot see it happening though

[Samray]

I'm sick of the whole circus, including this thread, but that is all I'm prepared to blame the parents for at this stage.

[Gio]

Makes you proud to be British doesn't it.

I expect now that they've got their financial futures set up, they'll use the rest of the money for holidays etc.

I still think these awful people should as a minimum be charged with aiding an abetting the abduction of a minor (I don't believe Maddy is alive) and that their other children shouyld be taken off them. These are 2 people who supposedly are very intelligent yet IMO they show themselves to be incapable of any form of common sense.

I'm sure that if a proper police force had been involved this case would have been finished by now.

What a load of b**ls! We have no reason to believe them guilty of anything - or do we prefer to belive the Portugese police attempts to blame anyone but a Portugese? But either way, these 2 are doctors, one a consultant heart surgeon. Do you really think that 2k a month mortgage is anything other than petty cash to a consultant when he is able to work? Or indeed that a half million pound house is anything much these days?

The father has been on unpaid leave since the child first disappeared. How is he expected to pay his mortgage when he's stuck in Portugal? Indeed, what is the Maddy fund for if it is not for things like this?

Its not for us to allocate guilt particularly based on the hysterical media coverage we have had. So how about a bit of human charity for parents who have lost their kid and now seem to be the butt of people jealous about their house

That was a nasty post Gio

It was intended to be nasty. I don't believe its media hysteria for anyone else who doesn't believe everything the papers say.

I think that Madeleine's parents are guilty of neglect and I'll stand by that. These 2 people earn a considerable amount of money (good luck to them there) yet they begrudge asking for someone to keep an eye on their children while they have a meal.
I for one would never do that, it is irresponsible to act that way, unless they had an ulterior motive.

Other facts also (which haven't even been mentioned) are that doctors have the highest suicide rate. I'd think it would be highly likely that if that is the case either one or both parents might think they've failed and might lead them to ending their lives.

The one thing thats struck me all the way through whats happened is their attempts to convince the world thats its nothing to do with them, which is bollox.

[BikerGran]

I'm sick of the whole circus, including this thread, but that is all I'm prepared to blame the parents for at this stage.

I agree with Samray and what sickens me most is the enthusiasm with which people slag off the parents. I have decided that I do not intend to revisit any threads concerning this case.