ROYALTIES REVISITED..

The book was published in  May 2011, the royalties paid have been difficult to trace in the accounts of the following years. These yearly submissions to Company House  are far from the transparent accounts promised in those heady days of May 2007.  As this is not my area of expertise - please consult the link to McCannfiles.com below. (1) .

One would have expected a significant sum as an advance paid by the publisher Transworld, considering that they could count on worldwide interest in the book ‘madeleine’. In any case, the proceeds of the book would be for the Fund. That’s what it says on the bottle so to speak and that’s what we would expect to find. 

The Fund is a Limited Company often referred to as a charity, which is incorrect. Please note: it is a Limited Company although it could easily have been a charity. (1a)

However: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_Descriptions_Act_1968

The Trade Descriptions Act 1968 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which prevents manufacturers, retailers or service industry providers from misleading consumers as to what they are spending their money on. 

Next:

McCanns to fund hunt for Maddie - The Sun - 29/3/2015

Exclusive by Mike Hamilton

The parents or Madeleine McCann plan to plough their own money into the search for their missing daughter if police halt their investigation. Kate and Gerry McCann both 47 , of Rothley Leics, fear public donations have dried up as the search approaches its eighth anniversary. So they have pumped almost £1 million into a fund for Madeleine that would be running at a loss without their cash. The money came from Kate's book about Madeleine's disappearance in Portugal in May 2007 and the search for her. A top cop suggested this week the £10 million police probe into the case should be wound up. Met Police Federation chairman John Tully said "We no longer have the resources to conduct specialist inquiries all over the world"

Dailystar.co.uk  date 30 April 2015

Last night the McCanns vowed to use ‘every single penny’ of the pay-out to help find Madeleine, .....  the McCanns spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: “  The investigation will come to an end sooner or later and Kate and Gerry will use the official Madeleine fund and any awards made to them to continue their own search. 

This is confusing, in black and white we are told  that the money from the book is their own money and what’s more it has not been anywhere near the Ltd.Co. (Fund) since it was paid out by Transworld to the author. It is their own money as opposed to money which resides in the Ltd. Co. Fund.  In direct contradiction to what has been printed on the cover  of the book ‘madeleine’.

The promise on the cover may for many have been a deciding factor in buying the book for they believed they were contributing to a Fund dedicated to finding a lost child. 

This is a bit tough on Transworld who may - as distributors - come under the Trade Descriptions Act. They printed it - now, to quote Wiki, it seems they were misleading their customers as to what they were spending their money on.

Back to the early days: 

The Limited Company  (Fund) was a tremendous success in the early days and failing postal pigeons, all methods of payment were covered, some twice over,  such as  donations from Ireland via yet a third bank. (2)

Postal donations by cheque were given the address of the IFLG, which at that time had existed for no more than two months (3)

Other - cash - postal donations were encouraged by their spokesman Clarence Mitchell and one can only wonder how these were entered into the accounts of the Ltd. Co. (4)

By phone:

Text "MADDIE" to 60999 and £1 will be taken from your phone for the Madeleine Fund. 

Over the counter:any branch of NatWest and The Royal Bank of Scotland.

Postal Donations can be made with cheques payable to 'Madeleine's Fund :

Cheques should be posted to the following address:

‘Madeleine’s Fund’

c/o International Family Law Group, 26 Southampton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2E 7RS

Internet donations - via NatWest bank

Instant donations can now be made via Paypal

Internet banking donations from abroad - IBAN BIC nr etc.

Donations From Ireland:

Allied Irish Bank (AIB)

Account number: 07511020 Madeleine McCann account

----------------------------------------------------------------

Money was sent to:  

The private address of the parents in Rothley, a large part of which is likely to be an undisclosed amount in cash and therefore most amounts more than £ 5,-.  

The  IFLG. (not the registered office for the fund, Bates, Wells and Braithwaite)  
The  AIB  (in Ireland).

National Westminster Bank.

Royal Bank of Scotland. 

The mobile phone donations - not known how much or how accounted for. 

The money boxes dotted around the Ocean Club were presumably serviced by TM in person and contained only cash.  (5)

References: 

1) For the professional review of the Fund: 

http://www.mccannfiles.com/id405.html

A review of the background to setting up the limited company Madeleine's Fund: Leaving No Stone Unturned and a forensic examination of the company accounts

by Enid O'Dowd FCA.

(1a): Missing People is a charity as well as a Ltd. Co. Their accounts are available online and as a charity, these are very detailed.  

It would have been possible therefore, for the Madeleine Fund to have been both a charity and a limited company.In fact the reasons given for making it a Ltd. Co. (not for profit has apparently no meaning in tax terms) blame the Charity Commission for blocking this avenue.  However, the Charity Commission let it be known that is not the case. 
See also: http://www.mccannfiles.com/id405.html and http://jillhavern.forumotion.net/t4861p30-please-note-the-fund-is-not-a-charity

2)

Madeleine appeal fund set up by Irish friend Irish Independent

Ronald Quinlan

Sunday May 20 2007

AS the search for abducted four-year-old Madeleine McCann enters its third week, a dedicated bank account has finally been set up here in Ireland to allow people to assist through donations.

Funds raised through the Madeleine McCann Appeal account at the AIB bank are to be used to help fund the ongoing search for Madeline, and to help defray the costs of legal representation for her distraught parents.

The establishment of the account has been undertaken by Donegal-based Katerina Fernandez, a close friend of the missing girl's family.

Madeleine and her parents stayed with Ms Fernandez on a recent holiday in Donegal. Ms Fernandez fondly recalled the Easter visit.

"It's very hard to take it all in. It's bad enough when it's a child you don't know. But she was here with her family. It was only a weekend, but I can still see everybody down at the beach playing rounders. I can still picture Madeleine there. It's devastating," she said.

Ms Fernandez set up the fundraising account at the AIB to maintain awareness of Madeleine's case in Ireland.

Madeleine McCann Fund

AIB Account No: 07511020

Sort Code: 93-73-39

3)

The IFLG  launched 31 March 2007. 6 weeks or so old by the time of the events. A Leicester solicitor Richard Jones is sent to PdL,  by 22nd August Richard Jones is no longer with IFLG.  

From the website:

The International Family Law Group (iFLG) launches at its premises in Covent Garden, London. We are a new specialist law firm providing services to the international community as well as for purely national clients. We have a special contract with the Legal Services Commission for child abduction work and are regularly instructed by the UK Government. We act for international families, ex pats and others in respect of financial implications of relationship breakdown including forum shopping and international enforcement of orders. We receive instructions from foreign lawyers and, as accredited specialists, act for clients of other law firms seeking their specialist experience. unquote

The highlighted passages: 6 weeks old and regularly instructed by the UK Government? 

Also lucky that they specialise in child abduction work. They also advised the McCanns to make Maddie a Ward of Court. 

4) 

Asked on the James Whale radio show in October 2007, show how people could contribute to the fund,  Clarence Mitchell said: “Just put money into an envelope and send to Kate and Gerry McCann, Rothley, it’ll get there”. That was unprofessional - monies should have been directed to the registered office for the Fund, namely London Solicitors Bates, Wells & Braithwaite. For example, monies sent in the post could be stolen en route or would not be properly accounted for.

http://steelmagnolia-mccannarchives.blogspot.nl/2011/08/sayings-of-clarence-mitchell.html

5)

From the newspaper 'Sol'

By Margarida Davim 

07 July 2007

At the entrance of the Ocean Club in Praia da Luz, the journalists who participated in the press conference, that was held by Madeleine's parents for the Portuguese media, encountered a plastic box to collect donations. A small text, signed by Kate and Gerry McCann, invited everyone who entered the resort to contribute. This gesture was not appreciated by the members of staff, who claimed that the resort "is full of collection boxes".