GOING GLOBAL: THE WEBSITES

FUND ACCOUNTS 2007 - MARCH 2008:  THE WEBSITES

CHRONOLOGY OF WEBSITES REGISTRATION:

day 6   - 11th may 07:  1st official website launched as

www.bringmadeleinehome.com

day 13-  16th may 07

2nd official website registered as: www.findmadeleine.com

Linked to:  www.bringmadeleinehome. com

(day 15 - 18th may 07 -Trade mark filing date for Madeleine’s Fund - leaving no stone unturned   Trademark nr. 2456061)

Note: to use the word ‘Fund’  special permission has to be granted - this too, in view of the quick incorporation of the Ltd. Co. has been achieved in just a few days, which included a weekend and bank holiday. From Companies House website:  FUND:  You cannot use this word unless the body shown below confirms (by letter or email)  SensitiveBusinessn@FCA.Org.UK

day 23 - 26th may 07

3rd official website registered as

www.cuddlecat.co.uk - linked to

www.findmadeleine.com - linked to

www.bringmadeleinehome.com

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BRINGMADELEINEHOME.COM

Infohost was contacted by Philomena McCann on the 6th of May.

Admin contact: MacRae, Cameron - Ullapool.

UK reg service provider: domains@fasthosts.co.uk

Registrar of Record TUCOWS. INC.

Record last updated on 11 May 2007

Domain servers NS3/NS2/NS1 LIVEDNS.CO.UK

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Registration Service provider:

Fasthosts Internet Limited, domains@fasthosts.co.uk

Registrar of Record TUCOWS. INC

Record last updated on 11 April 2013

Record expires 11 May 2014

(Same servers)

The website was created on the 11th, live on the 13th and fully functioning with bank account details published by the 17th - the day of the launch of the Fund.

(A title which may have been inspired by the ‘Bring him home’ song from Les Miserables which was popular at the time).

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FINDMADELEINE.COM

In conjunction, the website is relaunched under the new name www.findmadeleine.com, although this is not officially announced until the next day, 17 May 2007.

According to the McCanns interview with Steve Boggan in the Guardian, the domain name 'findmadeleine.com' was originally purchased by a stranger in France and then donated to the family. (http://www.mccannfiles.com/id58.html)

It has it’s own web content on the 11th of May and links to CEOP as official page, but a few days later it links to bringmadeleinehome.com

However, Jon Corner registers findmadeleine.org on the 14th of May 2007:

Domain ID:D145995330-LROR

Domain Name: FINDMADELEINE.ORG

Created ON: 14-May-2007 14:31:24 UTC

Last Updated on: 14-May-2009 16:18:36 UTC

Expiration Date: 14-May-2010 14:31:24 UTC

Sponsoring Registrar:Tuscows Inc (R11-LROR)

Registrant Name: Jon Corner

FINDMADELEINE.COM changes servers in 2013:

Domain Name: FINDMADELEINE.COM

Registrar: GODADDY.COM, LLC

Whois Server: whois.godaddy.com

Referral URL: http://registrar.godaddy.com

Name Server: PDNS03.DOMAINCONTROL.COM

Name Server: PDNS04.DOMAINCONTROL.COM

Status: clientDeleteProhibited

Status: clientRenewProhibited

Status: clientTransferProhibited

Status: clientUpdateProhibited

Updated Date: 03-may-2013

Creation Date: 10-may-2007

Expiration Date: 10-may-2015

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CUDDLECAT.CO.UK

Despite the  supposed creation date of 26th of May cuddlecat.co.uk doesn’t have any archived history, first archive is June 12th, 2008 where it links to bringmadeleinehome. 

It seemed to change hands in December 2013 which is also the date that the McCanns changed servers of the main website: findmadeleine.com

(In January 2008 there are in any case more than 40 cuddlecats connected with the case:

Daily Mail: 25 January 2008:

Método 3, whose contract expires in March, has 40 investigators working on the case, here and in Portugal and Spain. Each has a replica of Cuddle Cat, Madeleine's favourite toy, which they are encouraged to squeeze when they feel demotivated at the size of their task. unquote)

 Page of the new website:

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This screenshot is of some interest. The website had been live for 7 days on the 18th of May 2007, yet it tells us that more than 40 million hits have been processed by the servers NS1, NS2 and NS3. This must surely be a record.

Michael Wright (see below) tells us that on the 18th - he is reading out the press release during the day - there were 5 million hits - as the website above is updated at 01.20 AM, that would make it a total of 45 million in less than 8 days.

Note also that the name Madenleine underneath the photograph of the eye defect that was never 'made much of' according to the parents (see post The Logic Gates) is a typing error. Something one would not expect a professional website designer to do, but is quite understandable if that wasn't the case.

Apart from the 40 million views, it is interesting that at this date the counter for the mobile phone donations is displayed, giving the total received.

DONATIONS: (listed on the official website)

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

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From the accounts it can be seen that over the period May 2007 - March 2008, the cost of the website is listed as £ 37071,-.  Which seems a little expensive considering that it is  apparently run from  a garage in Ullapool by a family member and enthusiastic teenagers.  The cost of a professionally designed website isn’t likely to be much more than £ 3000,- in this case. 

The information that the findmadeleine.com’ was donated by a person in France and that this domain name  was then used for the official site is rather puzzling.

To confuse matters further, the email address for the campaign is linked to bringmadeleinehome.com (see transcript below).  

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On the 18th of May 2007 Michael Wright presented this press release:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyZMF7RFScs

Gerry and Kate have asked me to give you an idea of the spread and scale of the campaign and the huge response to the fund that was officially launched yesterday.

Let me start by saying that Gerry  and Kate are taking immense strength from the support and the good wishes they are receiving from all over the world.

They have been totally overwhelmed by offers from individuals, small companies and large multi-national corporations. Both of them are firmly fixed on the campaign which is designed to raise Madeleine’s profile right across Europe and ensure we bring her home safely.

Their purpose is to turn hope into action, whilst none of us are experts in campaigning the situation we have found ourselves in has galvanised us into action and made us think creatively.

We are leaving no stone unturned and we have a huge number of partners who are helping us to that from sporting celebrities to big business. Top of the list are the UK and Portuguese media in particular who have played a huge part in maintaining the profile of this case and the awareness of Madeleine.

We need your continued support and now need to increase the coverage right across Europe.

Our campaign has started with an expansive poster distribution across Europe and our partners include multi nationals from the oil, banking, telecoms and retail sectors. Other multi national companies have already started to include Madeleine’s image on every outgoing email.

The response to yesterday’s launch has been huge. The official website has received over 5 million hits today and the scale of response has brought some difficulties and they are being dealt with.

But this is just the start, each day brings more offers of help and new ideas we are open to anything that will bring Madeleine home.

I anyone wants to offer practical help we can be reached at : campaign@bringmadeleinehome.com. Thank you. unquote

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Points which are communicated although not necessarily correct:

the ‘partners’ of TM must include Beckham for one, as well as the other football and rugby celebrities mentioned. None of these appear to have continued their ‘partnership’ with TM. Although it is interesting that according to the press release on the 16th the Fund was launched by a Rugby Captain and a photograph of Madeleine wearing an Everton T-shirt was released fairly soon after that date, calling to mind the iconic and tragic photo of the two Soham girls.  

It is merely my opinion that the unnamed  ‘multi-national companies’  and in particular those who apparently undertook to send a photograph of Madeleine with every email  would surely not have objected to have their names mentioned?

THE FUND REVISITED

Guest Enid O'Dowd has revised and extended her analysis of the Fund accounts. This is  a much-needed review - many thanks to Enid O'Dowd

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The Setting up of the Fund Revisited

'from the outset everyone agreed that, despite the costs involved, it (the Fund) must be run to the highest standards of transparency'

-Dr Kate McCann in her book madeleine

In 2012 I published a report http://www.mccannfiles.com/id405.html about the background to the incorporation of the limited company Madeleine’s Fund: Leaving No Stone Unturned just 11 days after she went missing.

My report upset an unknown McCann supporter so much that he or she complained to my professional body, the ICEAW (Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales). 

This happened in November 2012 but I only learned of it recently when by chance I came across a post which the person concerned had made on the Internet.

I was never contacted as the complaint did not meet the standards required by the ICEAW to warrant asking to hear my side of the story. The ICEAW reply to the complainant included the sentence:

 ‘Mrs O'Dowd is entitled to her opinions and views and freedom of speech’. 

Exactly!

I imagine that this vexatious complaint caused some amusement at the ICEAW, and, on a more positive note, will have brought my report on the Fund to the attention of the staff at the ICEAW who may have discussed it with family and friends.   

At the time I published the first report on the Fund, I did not understand why the situation warranted a limited company set up with such speed.  I still don’t understand this four years later, having reviewed the subsequent audited accounts now available.

The Fund Timeline

2007	Event	Comment
Thursday  10pm May  3	Madeleine reported missing
Weekend Friday May 11 - Sunday May 13	Unnamed barrister and paralegal (from International Family Law Group  - IFLG) meet with McCanns in Portugal	Decision taken to set up limited company (the Fund).
Monday May 14	McCanns set launch date for  the Fund	Not clear when on Monday the launch date was set. Not clear why they did not get company incorporated and then set media launch date.
Monday afternoon May 14	Solicitors Bates Wells and Braithwaite (BWB)asked to incorporate the new company	BWB inform Charity Commission in email on Monday evening May 14 that launch of new company set for May 16.
Monday  afternoon May 14- lunchtime Tuesday May 15	Communications between BWB  and Charity Commission re possible charity status for the company yet to be incorporated
Tuesday afternoon May 15	The Fund incorporated after charity negotiations dropped.	Documents obtained under FOI show charity status might have been possible with a little compromise
Wednesday May 16	Press launch of the Fund with celebrity guest Martin Johnson	Apparently not having to change the date of a press launch was more important than getting charity status
Thursday May 17	Fund Bank account opened
Thursday May 17	Auditors to the Fund appointed	The McCanns were in Portugal and could not have actually met the auditors. Why the rush to appoint them so quickly?
Friday May 18	BWB apply for British and EU trademarks and given ref: 245601	This protects fundraising, internet and print promotions. Why the rush as before?

According to the book madeleine, charity experts BWB were hired on the advice of the paralegal. It is surprising that Kate did not let them have a day or two more to explore charity status. This slight delay would not have reduced the chances of finding Madeleine, alive or dead. And it is also surprising that the McCanns have apparently not revisited the charity status issue.

In Chapter 9 of madeleine Kate describes her activities on May 14; she does not mention any dealings with BWB, nor does she mention dealing with the paralegal or anyone else at IFLG. There must have been emails and phone calls that day from her advisors. She just states that charity status would not be forthcoming as it was deemed that the 'public benefit' test would not be met, and adds that it (the Fund) 'was set up with great care and due diligence by experts in their field.'

It would be more accurate to state it was set up with great haste and with no apparent reason for that haste.

Rather than describing the busy day she must have had dealing with her lawyers, and why she made the decision to proceed with incorporation and abandon the negotiations for charity status, she talks of going for a run, her first since Madeleine went missing.

She doesn’t mention the cost of getting a top legal firm to set up a limited company. The donations coming in were for finding Madeleine and not for lawyers. The legal pair would presumably have informed her of the ongoing compliance costs of operating a limited company such as the audit fee. The audit fees for the accounts from commencement to March 2014 total £50,085. The audit fee for the year ended 31 March 2015 is not known.

The Audited Accounts

When the first set of audited accounts for the period from 15 May 2007 to

31 March 2008 became available at Companies House, much information was provided but it raised many issues, one of which was that apparently only 13% of expenditure had gone on searching for Madeleine.

The Fund directors had two choices:

1. to answer questions about the accounts both from the media and from members of the public, to put financial information on the official website, and to provide clearer accounts in future.

or

2. to ignore the questions and reduce the information provided in subsequent accounts, in the hope of reducing or eliminating questions, while adhering to statutory disclosure requirements.

They went for the latter option. Subsequent accounts provided much less information but still raised questions! The accounts for the most recent year available, the year ended 31 March 2015, provide even less information than in previous years which is why the my summary of accounting results 2007-2015 later in this article contains (?) in the 2015 column.

It is quite reasonable that an ordinary trading company would not reveal more information than legally required in its filed accounts because some information could be commercially sensitive and of use to a trade competitor. However, this argument would not apply to a company such as Madeleine's Fund where it would logically be to its advantage for the public to see where the money was going.

I contacted the company auditors who passed my questions on the accounts to Clarence Mitchell, their PR spokesman. I received the following response:

‘I have now been authorised to issue the following brief statement from Madeleine's Fund in response to your approach:

"Madeleine's Fund - Leaving No Stone Unturned Limited" fulfils all of its legal requirements through the filing and public declaration of all the information that is legally required of it. It exists to support the search for Madeleine and remains entirely dedicated to finding her through everything that it does, fully in line with its published objectives."

I appreciate that this does not directly address your specific questions but this is all that the Fund wishes, or needs, to state at present. I hope it is helpful nonetheless.

Kind regards,

Clarence’

Filing of the Fund’s Accounts

Good practice demands the filing of accounts as soon as practical after the accounting year end before the information becomes to some extent irrelevant.  Prompt filing is necessary for

genuine ‘transparency.’ Prompt filing costs nothing but even if it did, the commitment in madeleine promised transparency ‘despite the costs involved.’

The audited accounts were filed as below:

The statutory filing date was 10 months after the accounting year end to 2010 but was changed to 9 months from 2011

Summary of Audited Accounts 2007 – 2015

All we can see from the 2015 accounts is that there was £763,772 in

the bank at the year end, a figure similar to the cash at bank in the

previous year and that there were creditors of £17,620 leaving the

company net worth just under £750,000 as at 31 March 2015.

The Fund now

So, close to nine years after the Fund was incorporated, and given the 

commitment in madeleine to transparency, whatever it cost, we have -

·     No financial information on the official website

AND

·     audited accounts which tell us, in effect, nothing

What is the reason for the reluctance to give financial information?

The website still requests donations from the public, one that is becoming

increasingly suspicious of charities and not for profit organisations which

request support yet do not provide clear information as to why they need

money and what it is spent on.

The Fund’s raison d’être and its income and expenditures remain a mystery.

Enid O’Dowd FCA

www.enidodowd.com

1 February 2016

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