New twist on the disappearance of Maddie McCann. The missing girl’s parents have used part of the funds raised for the search for their daughter in their case against a former police officer who made ‘unsubstantiated’ statements about the case.
Baby Maddie McCann disappeared on May 3, 2007 of the Ocean Club hotel complex in Praia da Luz in Portugal. Since then, the little girl has never been found. In addition, in 2020, the pedophile Christian Brueckner was named as the main suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine by the German authorities, where he is imprisoned. He denies any involvement. Last September, parents Kate and Gerry McCann lost a 13-year battle to former police chief Goncalo Amaral. The latter claimed that the parents were implicated in their daughter’s disappearance.
And it is now on the financial accounts of the fund to seek Maddie that all eyes are on. The accounts of Madeleine’s Fund, a non-profit corporation, reveal that £6,695 was spent on legal costs “in connection with a defamation action in Portugal brought by Gerald and Kate McCann”. Latest accounts also show Madeleine’s Fund received £3,498 from sales of Kate’s book “Madeleine” the previous year, and that the fund now has £970,767 in cash and assets.
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Disappearance of Maddie McCann: the lost lawsuit against Goncalo Amaral
The Madeleine fund was created to “ensure safe return” of daughter McCanns, who was just three years old when she disappeared while on vacation in Portugal in 2007. The McCann family sued Goncalo Amaral for defamation over claims in his book, Maddie: The Truth About The Lie.
In 2015, a Lisbon court sentenced him to pay them £440,000 in damages. But the following year, an appeals court overturned the decision, and in 2017 the Supreme Court finally ruled against the McCanns. They then took the case to the European Court of Human Rights.
But in September, the seven judges unanimously upheld the former police chief’s right to free speech. The McCanns have argued that they took action against Goncalo Amaral only because his “unsubstantiated claims had a negative impact on the search for Madeleine”.