Gonçalo Amaral confirms he will appeal the damages decision to higher Court.

[Eleanor]

What are you suggesting, Alfred? 

I am sure these donations are absolutely genuine and above board.  And I am equally certain that when the independently audited accounts of the Amaral fund are released this will show that all the figures tie up between Amaral's fund, Go Fund Me and the legal costs, and there is no evidence of any recycling of donations.

May I also commend the two donors for having managed to make their Portuguese donations equal exactly £4000 - but why oh why donate via the GoFundMe site.  The cost of doing so is at least £400 - (5%) and if the money was collected in euros and converted to GBP, there would be an exchange rate cost typically of 1% to 2%.  (an extra £80 to £160).

Whereas if they had simply made the donation directly via the BPI - Banco Português de Investimento, Sete Rios, Lisboa, there would have been no charge and no exchange costs and Amaral could have been £500 quid better off. 

I am sure there is a simple explanation for this.   

Let's try not to be too logical about this.  Especially as most of us really don't mind.

[pathfinder73]

https://www.gofundme.com/Legal-DefencePJGA

http://portugalresident.com/appeal-to-raise-money-for-maddie-cop%E2%80%99s-legal-costs-gets-huge-cash-boost



An anonymous group of employees of companies and legal means that are stunned by what happened. Portugal and Britain are old allies, but the McCanns and the British tabloids tried to separate us. All see perfectly what we are trying to do, freezing the assets of Dr Amaral to prevent him from defending himself, while using the millions they have been donated by the public to the process. This is not justice. This is wrong. The McCanns have lost 5 of their 7 pretensions, but the British press not reported, nor even reported the harsh words used by the judge in relation to his alleged 'evidence'. They have to pay 60% of costs, but the British press not reported. This small donation is intended to ensure that this venomous hatred act is not successful. We believe that one day the truth will be told, although it is unlikely to be parents to do so.

[Brietta]

https://www.gofundme.com/Legal-DefencePJGA

http://portugalresident.com/appeal-to-raise-money-for-maddie-cop%E2%80%99s-legal-costs-gets-huge-cash-boost



An anonymous group of employees of companies and legal means that are stunned by what happened. Portugal and Britain are old allies, but the McCanns and the British tabloids tried to separate us. All see perfectly what we are trying to do, freezing the assets of Dr Amaral to prevent him from defending himself, while using the millions they have been donated by the public to the process. This is not justice. This is wrong. The McCanns have lost 5 of their 7 pretensions, but the British press not reported, nor even reported the harsh words used by the judge in relation to his alleged 'evidence'. They have to pay 60% of costs, but the British press not reported. This small donation is intended to ensure that this venomous hatred act is not successful. We believe that one day the truth will be told, although it is unlikely to be parents to do so.

Brilliant ... when I'm making a charitable donation I like to ensure all the money is going where it should and not to a third party which is why I make a Gift Aid Declaration ... in this case, were I Portuguese living and working in Portugal, I would have paid it into the Portuguese bank account set up for that reason.

Seems legal workers in Portugal may have more money than sense in some cases and certainly no accountants within their ranks ... not to worry though ... it will all soon come out in the wash.

[stephen25000]

Brilliant ... when I'm making a charitable donation I like to ensure all the money is going where it should and not to a third party which is why I make a Gift Aid Declaration ... in this case, were I Portuguese living and working in Portugal, I would have paid it into the Portuguese bank account set up for that reason.

Seems legal workers in Portugal may have more money than sense in some cases and certainly no accountants within their ranks ... not to worry though ... it will all soon come out in the wash.

In reality the majority of money going to charities is used to pay the salaries of those who do the fundraising.

[Carana]

Brilliant ... when I'm making a charitable donation I like to ensure all the money is going where it should and not to a third party which is why I make a Gift Aid Declaration ... in this case, were I Portuguese living and working in Portugal, I would have paid it into the Portuguese bank account set up for that reason.

Seems legal workers in Portugal may have more money than sense in some cases and certainly no accountants within their ranks ... not to worry though ... it will all soon come out in the wash.

It doesn't actually say that this group of professionals from the business and legal world are Portuguese...

[Mr Gray]

why have they chosen to stay anonymous...something not right

[jassi]

why have they chosen to stay anonymous...something not right

Perhaps they prefer it to being abused on-line by all and sundry.

[Carana]

I have no problem that this young English woman started an initiative to support someone she seems to admire... And everyone should be free to support whatever cause is close to their heart with their spare cash, but why didn't she simply promote the original fund via her social media contacts?

ETA: as J-P says, I'm sure there will be a simple explanation, but for the moment I don't quite understand it.

With lots of contributors donating £5 whenever they can afford it, is there any particular reason to give a percentage of that as a fee to gofundme as opposed to a direct transfer to the PT account?

[Anna]

I don't understand the bit in bold and I most probably have misinterpreted it.

"There is no court date"? Does anyone know if this mean that there will be no public court case for the appeal, or lawyers required in court in the appeal or will it be a private hearing(s) ?
Is it just a matter of waiting for a decision from the ruling judges after they have investigated the ruling that awarded damages to the McCanns and compare arguments/ evidence?

Excerpt:-

As to the former PJ detective’s appeal against the ruling that effectively orders him to pay the McCann’s over €600,000 in damages, that is advancing now through the Appellate Court in Lisbon.

As a friend of the former detective’s explained, “it is not a public process. There is no court date.
“At some point, the judges reach a verdict and then they communicate that verdict to all parties. There is however no deadline. It may take weeks or months until we hear anything”.
natasha.donn@algarveresident.com
http://portugalresident.com/appeal-to-raise-money-for-maddie-cop%E2%80%99s-legal-costs-gets-huge-cash-boost

[Carana]

I don't understand the bit in bold and I most probably have misinterpreted it.

"There is no court date"? Does anyone know if this mean that there will be no public court case for the appeal, or lawyers required in court in the appeal or will it be a private hearing(s) ?
Is it just a matter of waiting for a decision from the ruling judges after they have investigated the ruling that awarded damages to the McCanns and compare arguments/ evidence?

Excerpt:-

As to the former PJ detective’s appeal against the ruling that effectively orders him to pay the McCann’s over €600,000 in damages, that is advancing now through the Appellate Court in Lisbon.

As a friend of the former detective’s explained, “it is not a public process. There is no court date.
“At some point, the judges reach a verdict and then they communicate that verdict to all parties. There is however no deadline. It may take weeks or months until we hear anything”.
natasha.donn@algarveresident.com
http://portugalresident.com/appeal-to-raise-money-for-maddie-cop%E2%80%99s-legal-costs-gets-huge-cash-boost

I'm not sure how a civil appeal hearing works in PT. It might just be judges sitting over coffee and laptops with either lawyers present or available when they find a time slot.

[Alice Purjorick]

Madeleine's Fund is dedicated to looking for Madeleine ... remember her?  the missing child.

At the moment there is no requirement for her parents to raise money for that ... as the people who have the legal right and the legal powers to do that are currently so doing.

Why do you persist in asking such an unnecessary question ... what point are you trying to make?

True but the "donate" buttons on the website remain in good working order (as of 15 minutes ago). So the website owners have a different view it would seem

[Eleanor]

Yep, got to be Brits doing this. Two donations of 4,000 Pounds each  within ten minutes?

But I really don't mind.  It won't affect the ultimate outcome.

[Anna]

I'm not sure how a civil appeal hearing works in PT. It might just be judges sitting over coffee and laptops with either lawyers present or available when they find a time slot.

Thanks Carana.

[pegasus]

I have no problem that this young English woman started an initiative to support someone she seems to admire... And everyone should be free to support whatever cause is close to their heart with their spare cash, but why didn't she simply promote the original fund via her social media contacts?

ETA: as J-P says, I'm sure there will be a simple explanation, but for the moment I don't quite understand it.

With lots of contributors donating £5 whenever they can afford it, is there any particular reason to give a percentage of that as a fee to gofundme as opposed to a direct transfer to the PT account?

Calculate MF's website costs in their first accounting year, as a percentage of MF's online donations, and you will find that gofundme's 5% fee is very reasonable in comparision.

[misty]

Yep, got to be Brits doing this. Two donations of 4,000 Pounds each  within ten minutes?

But I really don't mind.  It won't affect the ultimate outcome.

Or Yanks who've been scamming it all along. A wise man once told me to never believe everything you read or see on the internet.