I've discovered one thing that I confess has disappointed me ...

With the publiction of the auditor's accounts, I was wondering how the input of the McCanns' friends' libel payments to the fund had figured. The short answer is, they don't. I suppose there is no reason why they should have parted with money paid to them in recompense for personal pain, suffering and traducement of the reputations.

But why, oh why, did Gerry say in his blog that they had put the money into the fund when he must have known it wasn't true?

Here, incidentally, is the link:

Madeleine well-wishers gave €2.2m
30 January 2009


WELL-WISHERS donated nearly £2 million (€2.2m) to the fund to find Madeleine McCann in the 10 months after she went missing in May 2007, accounts filed to Companies House in Britain show.
The official fund set up to help find Madeleine McCann now stands at £600,000 after an initial surge of donations dried up.

Over this period more than £815,000 (€897k) from the fund was spent on efforts to trace Madeleine.

This included £250,000 for search fees, including private detectives; £111,522 (€122k) for legal costs and £123,573 (€133k) for campaign management.

There was also £37,071 for the McCanns’ official website, £81,904 for adverts and a total of £141,747 for administrative expenses.

Madeleine’s Fund was launched a fortnight after the child vanished from Praia da Luz, southern Portugal, on May 3, 2007.

Donations flooded in from supporters around the world who wanted to do something to help her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, now both 40.

The fund’s income in the period to March 31 last year totalled £1,846,178, including bank interest of £33,424 and £64,078 from sales of T-shirts and wristbands, the accounts show.

This total includes a £550,000 libel award from Express Newspapers made in March last year, but not several later sums in damages paid to the McCanns and their friends by media groups.

Mr McCann’s brother John, who is one of the fund’s directors, said contributions had dropped off.

The fund total currently stands at about £600,000, McCann family spokesman Clarence Mitchell said.

Mr Mitchell said: “Everyone who has so generously donated money to help find Madeleine can be assured that every penny has been accounted for and has been, entirely appropriately, spent one way or another on the search for Madeleine.

“The accounts have been independently audited and are entirely transparent.”

http://www.irishexaminer.com/text/story.asp?j=cwojauojgbeyeyey&p=z5x56745&n=25056840

Hi, I'm not sure when the friends received their payout, but depending on when the financial year end is, maybe it will be recorded in the next set of accounts.

Pedro Silva wrote:

My friend, with all do respect, this is the way I see this: more speculation from the press with the sick purpose of cause distress, to try to divert attention from the search, because, as we know, the private investigations are under strictly secret, so, the newspapers had to find ways to increase their ways of selling, so, they twisted the reliable information given by the auditor´s accounts, in a sad way to sell more rubbish. It´s common knowledge that when the press has nothing to sell, they make speculation, rubbish, lies (which seems to be the case as we all know). This is my point of view. I´m sure that both the couple and those who managed the fund, knows exactly how to use wisely in the search, so, with all do respect, I don´t see any problem or reason to be disappointed. Sorry, but I don´t buy what the newspapers are saying, based on speculation and ways to sell more of them. I agree with what Tinkerbell says.

There's much in what you say, Pedro, and Tinkerbell's point about the financial year is a good one. In this country, it ends in April. So perhaps the accounts just published don't take account of transactions beyond that date. For sure, I find it odd that the vultures constantly hovering haven't swooped on this morsel. Which is most unusual. Yes, I think Tinkerbell just might have nailed this one right.

Tinkerbell43 wrote:Hi, I'm not sure when the friends received their payout, but depending on when the financial year end is, maybe it will be recorded in the next set of accounts.

Sky reported that the damages were awarded to the so called Tapas Group in October 2008 and the fund accounts are only up to March 2008 so I am sure you are correct.

The current audit report is only for the first year, so the payment awards would not yet show up.

HB, I can understand why you thought that the friends havent paid their libel payouts into the fund but we dont know if they have, as Tinks is 100% correct, and it is in a different financial year.

The whole 'examination' of the accounts on the various forums is a farce. Their seems to be a very big misunderstanding of what audited accounts are. Audited accounts means they have been audited to make sure they meet any legistlative requirements, meet accounting standards and generally accepted accounting principles. But for the most part it is up to the trustees how they spend the money, as long as it is consistent with the stated aims of the fund.

All of this talk of wasting money or fraud is just a crock,because an audit will not look at this. THe only type of fraud that is usually found is where the books are cooked to make them say something different, say to increase profit, or increase asset value or decrease liability value. The type of fraud the anti's are looking for (say paying M3 and then getting a kickback) is very difficult to detect. I once worked for a company where the chief accountant stole $5 million over about 5 years, and it was found by accident by the IT Systems Administrator. The auditors never found it, and when you consider that this company turned over about 250 million a year, the embezzlement was quite substantial.

Generally the audit will say that the books accurately reflect what happened, that is the best way to interpret it.

But any criticism of the way the money has been spent is meaningless without detailed breakdowns of the expenses. And the same with the income. We dont know what income was received, although it looks like most of it in that financial year was donations. In the following year, there will be the libel payouts. BUT the accounts that are released will not breakdown what has been donated by each party, it will just be a total. And that is appropriate.


All I can say is that if the anti's researched the forensic and dog evidence as they have done the accounts, then it is little wonder they got it so wrong.

My authority. I am entitled to put B.Bus after my name and I have 5 years experience as an accountant before I went into IT. And I work exclusively with accounting systems and our customers in my IT work.

Di,

they were awarded the damages on October 16th. So as you say they will be in the next accounts.

The seven - couples Jane Tanner and Russell O'Brien, Rachael and Matthew Oldfield, Fiona and David Payne, and Mrs Payne's mother, Dianne Webster - said they will donate the money to the Find Madeleine fund.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/Madeleine-McCann-Tapas-7-Arrive-At-High-Court-To-Receive-Libel-Damages-From-Express-Newspapers/Article/200810315121775?lpos=UK_News_Article_Related_Content_Region_5&lid=ARTICLE_15121775_Madeleine_McCann_Tapas_7_Arrive_At_High_Court_To_Receive_Libel_Damages_From_Express_Newspapers

Ah! I'm reassured. Many thanks, all.

Deleted, sorry