No 4 - The Search for Madeleine McCann and Oakley International

[Mr Moderator]

The Search for Madeleine McCann and Oakley International

Oakley International was a US registered firm solely controlled and headed by fraudster Kevin Halligen which was awarded a £500,000 6-month contract by the Madeleine Fund to spearhead the search for the missing child.

Oakley International won the contract after an introduction by another company, Red Defence International (RDI), based in Jermyn Street, Central London. Unsurprisingly, Red Defence was itself wholly owned by Kevin Halligen.  Washington-based Oakley International was paid around £300,000 by backers of Madeleine McCann's parents to help look for the child after she went missing from an Algarve resort in May 2007 at the age of three. The six-month contract saw the firm hire other private detectives, set up a hotline and process information. The firm had initially been given a £500,000 contract, but the McCanns terminated the arrangement before paying any more fees.

Listed as being involved with both companies was Mr Halligen, 47, a communications expert. He is given as the 'contact name' for Oakley International Group, a company registered in Washington DC as the manufacturer of search and navigation equipment.

The company claimed annual sales of £33,000 and only one employee, who appeared to be Mr Halligen.

The address given for the company is 2550 M Street NW Washington, which was the downtown office of Patton Boggs, one of the largest and most powerful law companies in America.

Convicted fraudster Kevin Halligen, the man behind Red Defence and Oakley International,
the PI firms which headed up the search for Madeleine in 2008.

A friend of the McCanns said: 'The hunt for Madeleine is becoming more and more international and it was felt that a truly international firm was now needed to lead the inquiry.

"These really are the big boys. They are absolutely the best, but they are extremely secretive and cloak-and-dagger about what they do.

'Since their appointment, Metodo has very much taken a back seat and they are now concentrating primarily in Portugal and Spain and across the Straits of Gibraltar into north Africa, where they have their main contacts.

'The American agency is pretty much handling everything else.'

The secretive firm is said to employ ex-FBI, CIA and U.S special forces, according to the Daily Mirror.

The McCanns' spokesman Clarence Mitchell, said: 'Kate and Gerry made it clear from the outset they would leave no stone unturned in finding Madeleine and that means employing the very best people in any given field.

'It is correct that an international firm of investigators have been appointed.

'But I am unable to say anything at all about them because of the covert nature of their work and the need for secrecy, not only in looking for Madeleine, but also in relation to previous operations.'

The McCanns now have detectives working around the world at a reported cost of £166,000 a month.

Among the possible sightings they are following up, apparently ignored by Portuguese police, is one by a British yachtsman on the Caribbean island off Margarita last May.

The appointment of the U.S firm comes after it was revealed that a suspected sighting of Madeleine in Brussels was ruled out by police.

A blonde girl had been seen with a woman in a hijab at the KBC bank in the Belgium capital and the McCanns had been treating the sighting as a priority.

However their hopes were dashed when a man came forward and confirmed that the girl was his daughter out with her nanny.


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1044260/McCanns-hire-crack-team-ex-FBI-agents-Madeleine.html

[Mr Moderator]

A team of private investigators working behind the scenes to find Madeleine McCann has been axed after being paid £500,000 from publicly donated funds.



The Find Madeleine Fund quietly engaged the services of a US-based company which was awarded the lucrative six-month contract earlier this year.

The company, Oakley International, which boasts former British security service and FBI contacts, was hired to monitor the Madeleine Hotline, carry out detective work and review CCTV footage of possible sightings of the missing girl around the world.

A source revealed that the company had also spent resources in an attempt to infiltrate a paedophile ring in Belgium.

However, the company's contract will now not be renewed. The Mail on Sunday has learned that double-glazing tycoon Brian Kennedy, who has been underwriting the fund's search for Madeleine, has conducted a review of the agency's work and has become unhappy with the progress it was making.

The deal was abruptly ended following a meeting last week after the fund brought in independent monitors to assess how the money was spent.

The cost of employing the agency - run by a Briton, Kevin Halligen - has drained the Madeleine fund and there is now less than £500,000 left.

Read more here

[John]

From The Sunday Times
November 22, 2009 (appeared online November 21, 2009)


A BUSINESSMAN who pretended to be a secret agent has allegedly pocketed up to £300,000 from funds intended to pay investigators working on the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.



Kevin Halligen, a British security consultant, was paid to find Madeleine but allegedly failed to pass the money on to the private detectives who did the work on his behalf. A friend of Kate and Gerry McCann, Madeleine's parents, said they had become increasingly concerned about Halligen.

"He had this sense of cloak and dagger, acting as if he were a James Bond-style spy," said the friend. "He promised the earth but it came to nothing."

Halligen's company Oakley International, which is based in Washington DC, was paid £500,000 after being hired by the Find Madeleine fund.

Sources close to Halligen say he offered to provide the McCanns with satellite images and lists of telephone traffic on the night Madeleine disappeared. The data were supposed to come from contacts in Washington but, one source claimed, "all he came up with was a Google Earth image".

The Madeleine fund was provided with further reports from teams of investigators who found it increasingly difficult to obtain their fees from Halligen. One of them, Henri Exton, a former national head of undercover operations for the British police, is owed more than £100,000 by Halligen for work he did on the Madeleine case.

Documents show that while Halligen's company was receiving the fund's cash, he was withdrawing large amounts of money for his personal use. He had been using company funds to finance first-class flights, expensive hotels and chauffeur-driven cars.

His contract with the fund was not renewed in October last year. Halligen left Washington for a holiday in Rome but never returned to Oakley's offices. He was last seen staying at the Royal Crescent hotel in Bath under an assumed name.

Halligen, 50, often pretended to have served in the intelligence services to impress business and social contacts, according to those who knew him well.

Two years ago he allegedly faked his own wedding to a lawyer in Washington, watched by former agents, a CIA station chief and an adviser to Barack Obama. Halligen told his bride that his spy masters would not allow his real name to be on wedding documents. He was, in fact, already married and the priest was an actor.

A wider financial investigation has found Halligen bought a £1m mansion with money allegedly defrauded from Trafigura, the company accused of dumping toxic waste in Africa. Last week the US Department of Justice issued an indictment seeking his arrest over the alleged Trafigura fraud.

Stephen Dorrell, the McCanns' MP, said: "This man clearly saw a vulnerable family going through a terrible ordeal and the only thing he was focused on was that there were people offering money to help find Madeleine."

[John]

Maddie 'fraudster' nicked!

A businessman whose firm helped to look for Madeleine McCann has been arrested after a hotel manager recognised him as an alleged fraudster wanted by US authorities.

Kevin Halligen, 48, had been staying at the Old Bank Hotel in Oxford for several months under an assumed name.

He was arrested there on Tuesday following a discrepancy over his hotel bill.






The hotel manager had seen a newspaper report last weekend concerning the alleged fraud and realised the man pictured alongside the article was his customer. Halligen was taken into custody in the city, where he remains.

The US Department of Justice had issued an indictment for Halligen, from Surrey, earlier this month, alleging he tried to defraud a London law firm of 2.1 million dollars (£1.2 million).

David Harris, finance director of the luxury hotel in Oxford's High Street, said: "On Tuesday, the manager of the Old Bank contacted local police concerning this man called Kevin Halligen. He was known to us as Richard Hall. He had an outstanding bill of less than £5,000. To us, he was just an ordinary, well-behaved guest until the newspapers disclosed more at the weekend."

Halligen's firm, Oakley International, was used by Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry for around six months last year to look for their missing daughter.

It is understood a court hearing relating to an extradition matter could now take place.

In the indictment, the US Department of Justice alleged Halligen conned a London-based law firm. It is alleged he claimed the money was to help secure the release of two business executives from the Dutch company Trafigura, who were arrested in the Ivory Coast. Halligen is accused of using the funds for his own benefit including buying a mansion in Virginia.

Washington-based Oakley International was paid around £300,000 by backers of Madeleine McCann's parents to help look for the child after she went missing from an Algarve resort in May 2007 at the age of three. The six-month contract saw the firm hire other private detectives, set up a hotline and process information. The firm had initially been given a £500,000 contract, but the McCanns terminated the arrangement before paying any more fees.

[Serendipity]

More about Kevin Halligen.  The original web pages are no longer available but wayback machine has them.  I'ts lengthy but is an interesting read. It is longer than the forums post capacity of 20000 charachters so will have to be split into 2 parts

http://wayback.archive-it.org/2017/20101105221812/http://www.thesargeants.net/dblog/articolo.asp?articolo=296

Part 1

The Sargeants Inn \\ Homepage : Post
McCann's Kevin Halligen, Patton Boggs, André Hollis and the Forensic Science Services Connundrum

Author Blackwatch (of 30/06/2010 @ 17:22:23, in Kevin Halligen, viewed 1202 times)
The Sargeants Inn explores the background of McCann investigator, Kevin Halligen, Andre Hollis, the Forenics Science Services, Van Scoyoc and Patton Boggs - Washington's leading Lobby Shops and considers whether Halligen had been deliberately recruited by figures close to Control Risks and the Shadow Government and then deliberately isolated by his intelligence partners. Is Halligen simply a fantasist or an unsuspecting scapegoat, a low-level lackey groomed and fastracked to the top of food chain - drawn into a bogus wedding - and then shamelessly hung out to dry?

Chap I:I

Kevin Halligen, the Private Security expert hired by the McCanns in March 2008 and arrested in Oxford in connection with a money laundering scam donated $1000 toward the primary election campaign put together by Washington DC Congressman, John R Unger II in July 2008 according to US Federal Commission Files (only to have it withdrawn some two weeks later).

It's not a significant amount, I'll admit, but for a man who seems something of an enigma prior to 2007, it put him on the radar at least, and Patton Boggs very much in the frame.

The congressman Halligen donates to - John R. Unger II - is now a Democrat representing the 16th District in the West Virginia Senate. The 41 year old Senator acts as homeland security and economic development advisor for EG&G (Edgerton, Germeshausen and Grier, Incorporated/United Research Services) a US Defense Contractor.
According to the company's Wikipedia entry:

"The company was involved in contracting services to the United States government during World War II, and conducted weapons research and development after the war. Its close involvement with some of the government's most sensitive technologies has led to its being cited in conspiracy theories related to Defense Department black projects, usually related to its core competencies in nuclear technologies."

From 1999 until 2001 EG&G was wholly-owned by The Carlyle Group.

The Carlyle Group are also the biggest investors in Qinetiq plc - a Privatised British Defence and Security Company chaired between 2002-2005 by Baroness Neville-Jones, a close friend of Baroness Sarah Hogg, former advisor to John Major. Hogg's private equity company 3i Plc are major investors in Brian Kennedy and Control Risks Group (who provided Risk Services to the UK Government in the aftermath of the War with Iraq).

Sarah Hogg's sister, Justice Mary Hogg is legal guardian of Madeleine McCann as a result of the child being made a Ward of Court in 2007.

UK Private Equity and Private Intelligence & Defense Network Advised and Supported McCanns From the Start

Qinetiq plc - chaired by Baroness Neville-Jones - was placed 6th in a list of companies who had received most of the annual expenditure on Research and Development tasks for the UK Government's Defense Programme from 2001-2008. Baroness Neville-Jones is an advisor to Washington DC's private defense and intelligence forum, The Intelligence Summit organised by ex-Nazi Prosecutor John Loftus and sponsored by Michael Cherney (who Interpol wish to speak to on a number of alleged money-laundering offenses).

Michael Shrimpton QC and Halligen colleague Richard Parton (who partnered Halligen in the Madeleine investigation) are also regular advisors at the annual Intelligence Summit.

Greg Dyke accused Baroness Neville-Jones and Baroness Sarah Hogg as being directly behind his sacking from the BBC as a result of his handling of the David Kelly/WMD affair.

The Carlyle Group continues to hold a major stake in the company. Qinetiq plc was set up by the MOD to work the British Government's "Defence Evaluation and Research Agency".

The homeland security expert that Halligen backed, Senator John R. Unger II earned his first degree and his Masters at the University of Oxford.

In the early 1990s Unger worked with Mother Teresa in Calcutta and India during the monsoons and riots, coordinating the distribution of relief supplies.

He later transferred his skills to Iraq to help manage relief and recovery efforts in Iraqi orphanages, schools and hospitals with Save the Children International.

Unger has become an integral part in the reconstruction effort underway in Iraq.

Control Risks Group - the Private Security company hired by Brian Kennedy is one of four companies used by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to protect its property and staff in Iraq.

Chap I:II

Rebuilding Concensus: Halligen Signs Up with Specialist US Lobby Shop, Patton Boggs, But It's Von Scoyoc Who Get the Deal

Although I cannot find any information on the credit company - Ryecroft Consultants SA - who have filed action against Halligen, the address and employer's name given by Halligen on his donation to US Congress man John R Unger II is Patton Boggs, 2550 M. Street, NW Washington DC 20037. Halligen's Oakley International is also registered to this same address as is TFL Defense Inc (military construction contractors who took over $170,000 in Government Defense contracts between 200-2008). On the same donation record, Halligen describes his position as 'attorney'.

On their website Patton Boggs describe themselves as 'working closely with Congress and regulatory agencies in Washington, litigating in courts across the country, and negotiating business transactions around the world'. A law firm, they are also a highly specialised 'lobby shop', representing clients to politicians and government regulators and scoring contracts on their behalf.

Lobby Shops are specialist companies who represent clients to politicians and government regulators. Patton Boggs has represented many companies seeking and eventually winning contracts for infrastructure reconstruction in the wake of hostilities and regime change in countries like Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Angola and Pakistan.

Colonel John Garrett - a defence lobbyist for Patton Boggs and frequent (unpaid) commentator for Fox News - Rupert Murdoch's US News Cahnnel - was Halligen's best man at his wedding to Maria Dybczak, a trade lawyer for the US Commerce Department. Garrett had been introduced to Halligen at a Special Forces Club in Knightsbridge, Central London. According to The Times Halligen's name was put forward by Major Donald Palmer, then chairman of entry into the Special Forces Club and Major General John Holmes, a former commander of the SAS and former director of special forces.

Another senior US Defense figure and regular Fox News commentator, Andre Hollis, was Chief-Executive at Oakley International. Hollis appears to have befriended Halligen in Washington where Hollis plied his trade as Vice President of Van Scoyoc Associates, a powerful lobbying firm that performs services on behalf of the British Embassy's Defense Procurement programme. As a consequence of this work, Van Scoyoc is registered as a foreign agent of the United Kingdom. Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Hollis was the senior Department official responsible for efforts to train and equip security forces in Colombia and Afghanistan.

If Hollis was genuinely duped by a simple 'fantasist' like Halligen, then we must seriously question the wisdom of Tiger International in appointing him Head of due dillgence - Hollis's latest career move.

Halligen and Hollis - Selling the UK's Forensics Science Services to the Yanks (McCann DNA testers in deal with McCann Investigators)

During 2008, Hollis and Van Scoyoc provided lobbying services to the Forensic Science Services based in Birmingham and very much at the centre of the Madeleine McCann investigation. The current Head of the FSS is Simon Bennett, previously M.D at Qinetiq plc - the former Government Defence Company run by Baroness Neville-Jones (Bennett was formerley in Defence and Aerospace). Britain's previous major investor in forensic services had been 3i Plc, the private equity company behind Brian Kennedy and Control Risks Group. Hollis and Van Scoyoc also lobbied the Sentate in Washington on behalf of another 3i investment: the Ricardo Group Plc.

The issue of Hollis and Oakley International conducting investigations on behalf of the McCanns seems somewhat now problematized in view of the their relationship with the UK Goverment's Forensic Science Services.

Van Scoyoc also won a Pentagon/Boeing deal for Vulture, an unmanned endurance vehicle developed by the British-based Qinetiq in a deal with American Aerospace.

Hollis of Oakley International (top right) Van Scoyoc and the Forensic Science Service Ltd - Colonel John Garrett bottom left)

The Non-Executive chairman of Control Risks Group - the company recruited by the McCanns' sponsor Brian Kennedy in May 2007 - is Major Stephen Rose.

A veteran of Northern Ireland and the Gulf States, Major Rose was elected as President of the same Special Forces Club at the same time Halligen's friend Major Donald Palmer replaced Colonel Edward Toms as Chairman. Because it was Rose's former forces pal Palmer who put Halligen's name forward in the first place, it remains entirely likely that the enthusiastic electronics specialist - already known amongst the tight knit ex-Forces and Intelligence circle - was fastracked to the top of the food chain, perhaps with the expressed purpose of providing services to the McCanns and then discreetly prepared as fall guy, the group playing cynically to his fantasies.

The gauche but eager young Irishman's anxious daydreams on the fringes of this community, eventually found their purpose: too untrustworthy and flamboyant to be spy he became the next best thing - a sucker-spy.

Echoing the demands of the British National Party (BNP), Major Rose was one of the few senior military figures calling for Blair's impeachment over his handling of the war in Iraq. It didn't however stop the Tory Peer from capitalising on the invasion through a series of lucrative contracts won by Control Risks Group.

Controls Risks Group was founded in 1975 by Timothy Royle as a subsidary of Hogg Robinson, the Corporate Travel giant and rival to companies like Mark Warner. Several of the veterans have also combined their efforts at Erinys International and Kroll Inc - the Private Security firm in charge of security at the World Trade Centre at the time of 9/11.

Fox News and Pentagon pundit Garrett works with foreign sovereign governments and their embassies in the planning and implementation of political, security, and business strategies and with the U.S. government. As part of his lobbying activities Garret can guarantee weekly access and briefings with the secretary of defense, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and other high level policy makers.

In 2003, Patton Boggs commenced work on estimates for the cost of Reconstructing Iraq. The law firm also secured the contract to rebuild the Kabul-Kandahar Highway in Afghanistan on behalf of a major U.S. construction company.

Chap I:III

The Federal Knocking-Shop: How Lobby Shops like Patton Boggs Pimp The US Senate For Foreign Investors

The total figure that Senator John R Unger received in contributions from individuals was $151,078 (the Federal Electoral Commission only makes available donations upwards of $200). Senior partners in Patton Boggs - including 'super lawyer' and company chairman, Thomas H Boggs, Jr and Gordon J Arbuckle (oil/natural resources) made several contributions themselves, each of them no more than $500 to $2,000 apiece. Another Patton Boggs attorney, James A. Reeder (energy/communications) made a donation of $500. A complete list of donations may reveal that Patton Boggs were able to generate a substantial figure through its various staff (and those posing as staff) in support of John R Unger's campaign for Senate.

Because FEC rules prohibit individuals or businesses providing services to Federal government from contributing to candidates or parties in Federal elections, lobbying and fundraising specialists like Patton Boggs are vital to companies seeking federal contracts and ensuring the success of likeminded congressmen campaigning for Senate.

The following contribution caps apply to candidates for all Federal offices: $2,400 per election (each primary, runoff, and general election counts as a separate election). $10,000 per calendar year to state, district & local party committees. Of course, the real skill lies in skirting around these limits and in finding ways of collecting tens of millions of dollars from donors overseas. Donations from overseas are of course, expressedly forbidden by the Federal Election Commission.

Suspect donations are reviewed by compliance staff , and invalid donations are returned to the donor's credit cards (typical irregularities arer flagged by multiple credit cards, instances of suspicious addresses, strange words, business affiliations). A request will be made to prove the owner's address and nationality, and if the person making the donation can provide this, it will be rejected - which may explain why Halligen's $1000 to congressman, John R Unger II's campaign is accepted one week and withdrawan a short time later.

Lobbying records show Patton Boggs represents a battery of foreign governments and corporations.

The Patton Boggs Political Action Commitee and Thomas Bogg also made significant contributions to the re-election of Senator Richard Shelby - one of several senior figures Gerry McCann met in Washington to discuss support for the US search for Madeleine. Shelby, a controversial figure, had served on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence from 1995 to 2003 under Clinton and Bush respectively. In 2004 a federal investigation concluded that Shelby had leaked classified information to Rupert Murdoch's Fox News regarding two rather dubious messages picked up by the National Security Agency.

The information consisted of two messages intercepted by the National Security Agency on September 10, 2001, only translated from their original arabic the day after the attacks — 'the match is about to begin' and 'tomorrow is zero hour'. Shelby was cleared by the Ethics Committee of any breaches.

Why Islamic terrorists would use such classically western sporting idioms doesn't seem to have been explored (the phrases are vaguely reminiscent of Todd Beamer's alleged battlecry, 'let's roll' on board Flight 93)

Shelby's election campaign was also financially supported by Qinetiq North America - the company chaired by the UK's Baroness Neville-Jones - friend of Sarah Hogg (whose 3i investments company supports Brian Kennedy). Qinetiq North America's executive vice president's vice president Tom Weston sits on the advisory panel of Xcalibur with senior counsel to Patton Boggs, John Breaux.

In return for Qinetiq's support, Senator Shelby awarded the private security and intelligence firm a contract worth $8,000,000 to provide work on behalf of the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile, Research, Development and Engineering Center.

Patton Boggs and Thomas Boggs also supported the election campaigns of Democrat congressman Nick Lampson - another of the officials and advisors Gerry met in Washington.

Gerry Takes Washington DC: Neocons Seen Bundling Madeleine into a Taxi on Capitol Hill

The third and most important member of the dignitaries Gerry met in Washington was Alberto Gonzales - at that time Attorney General of the United States Government. Patton Bogg's Colonel John Garrett and Kevin Halligen's best man at his wedding, was able to arrange private briefings with Gonzalez during his time as advisor at the White House and it possible that Gerry's invitation to the White House was procured through Garret's links with Control Risks.

During his tenure at the White House,another Patton Bogg associate, Colin M Newman functioned as a liaison to the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (also known as the 9-11 Commission) and participated in a number of high-level government investigations, serving at the White House as a legal aide to Alberto Gonzales.

Bell Pottinger - who provided Crisis Management services on behalf of the McCanns and Mark Warner - represented Trafigura - the company bringing charges against Halligen over a failure to honour a contract. Carter Ruck provide legal assistance to the beleagured Swiss-Based company.

Another guest at Halligen's wedding was Noel Koch - the former United States Assistant Secretary of Defense and now advisor to Barack Obama. Koch was a leading voice in calls for regime change in Iraq ahead of the first gulf war. Koch would later say:

"No one had any doubts about [the Iraqis'] continued involvement in terrorism... The real reason was to help them succeed in the war against Iran"

Oakley International: Defense Contractor? Private Eye? Donations launderer? Federal contracts launderer? Willing patsy?

[Mr Moderator]

KEVIN HALLIGEN - Pleads GUILTY
Fri May 17, 2013 7:47 pm

WASHINGTON—Kevin Richard Halligen, 51, an Irish citizen, pled guilty today to wire fraud, a federal charge stemming from a scheme in which he defrauded $2.1 million from a Netherlands-based commodities trading company, announced United States Attorney Ronald C Machen Jr and Valerie Parlave, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office. Halligen pled guilty to one count of wire fraud, the first of two counts of an indictment that was returned against him in 2009 in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. As part of the plea agreement, the government agreed to dismiss the second count of the indictment, which was a money laundering charge stemming from the same scheme. The charge of wire fraud carries a statutory maximum of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

Under federal sentencing guidelines, the parties agreed that Halligen’s likely range would be a prison term of 33 to 41 months and a fine between $7,500 and $75,000. Under the plea agreement, Halligen also must pay $2.1 million in restitution to the company that was the victim of his scheme. The Honorable Colleen Kollar-Kotelly scheduled sentencing for June 27, 2013. The wire fraud charge stems from actions taken by Halligen in 2006 and 2007, when he was the Chief Executive Officer of Red Defence International (RDI), a London-based security consulting and crisis management firm, which was hired by Trafigura Beheer BV (Trafigura), a Netherlands-based international commodities trading company, and its London-based law firm, Waterson Hicks.

Kevin halligen plea Agreement.

                                                                   

Fake British spy ordered to leave the U.S.
Published: 27 June 2013

Kevin Richard Halligen, who made millions pretending to be a British spy, was ordered by a federal judge Thursday morning to leave the United States immediately.  U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly sentenced Halligen to 41 months of prison time, but because he will get credit for the 43 months he has already spent behind bars, he is likely to be deported quickly. Halligen must also pay $2.1 million in restitution to the firm he pleaded guilty to defrauding.

From 2005 to 2008, Halligen lived a lavish lifestyle in Washington, where he offered high-priced services as a security consultant by falsely claiming a background in intelligence. His life of luxury and boasts of involvement in international intrigue crumbled when many of the prominent Washington personalities who trusted him started charging him with misusing their money.

Halligen fled to the United Kingdom but eventually was apprehended and extradited. He pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in May to one count of wire fraud.

Halligen, 51, has been in prison since November 2009 in England and the United States — awaiting extradition and then again waiting for his guilty plea and sentencing. Kollar-Kotelly sentenced him to the maximum time recommended under federal sentencing guidelines.


Read more...

[Mr Moderator]

One of the most baffling decisions of all was the McCann Team’s decision to hire Kevin Halligen, part of a two-man team who set up an intelligence agency called Oakley International. The other was Henri Exton. When news leaked out about Halligen’s involvement, the McCann Team concealed his identity and described Oakley International as ‘the big boys of international detective work’. It was a calculated lie. Oakley had been formed after Madeleine McCann was reported missing - and consisted just of these two men. Neither man had any experience of looking for missing children.



Kevin Halligen

Halligen and Exton were reported to have charged the McCann Team a fee of £100,000 a month plus expenses. In the first month of the contract, he claimed over £50,000 in expenses, on top of his fee.  He was paid large sums of money upfront, despite him producing nothing of value. Hollingsworth wrote that: “During the Madeleine investigation, Halligen spent vast amounts of time in the HeyJo bar in the basement of the Abracadabra Club near his Jermyn Street office...the bar was in effect his office”. A former colleague said: “He was there virtually the whole day”. During the time the McCanns employed Halligen, they were advertising ‘an investigation hotline’ for members of the public to ring with any information. Halligen arranged for a company, iJet, based in West Virginia, U.S., to handle the calls. However, the Director of iJet later complained that neither the McCann Team nor Kevin Halligen had followed up any calls to the hotline, as highlighted in this Daily Mail article.  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1231757/Madeleine-McCann-investigator-didnt-listen-ANY-tip-offs-given-hotline--squandered-500-000.html  The Mail article  rightly condemned Halligen for having ‘squandered £500,000’. Yet the McCanns have never sued Halligen.



Henri Exton

Henri Exton, former business partner of Kevin Halligen, is a former Greater Manchester Police undercover officer. From 1991, he worked for MI5. In 2002, he was arrested for shoplifting. Whilst working on an MI5 surveillance operation, Exton was caught leaving a tax-free shopping area at Manchester airport with an expensive item he hadn’t paid for. The police were called. He was given the option of the offence being dealt with under caution, or face prosecution. He chose a police caution, thereby admitting his guilt. The London Evening Standard later reported that Exton had been sacked by MI5 and that furious at the decision to dismiss him, he had threatened to sue.  This was thereafter retracted by the newspaper who added that he continued to work there until his retirement.

Andrew Hollis, a former US Drug enforcement agency official, paid £55,000 to Halligen for a 10% shareholding in Oakley International. But Halligen transferred the money into his private bank account, using it to pay for him and his girlfriend Shirin Trachiotis to have a lavish holiday in Italy. Hollingsworth wrote that: “In a £4 million lawsuit filed in Fairfax County, Virginia, Hollis alleged that Halligen ‘received monies for Oakley’s services rendered and deposited this into his personal accounts’ and ‘systematically depleted funds from Oakley’s bank accounts for inappropriate personal expenses’.”  Another victim was Mark Aspinall, a lawyer who worked closely with Halligen, who invested £500,000 in Oakley and lost the lot. Aspinall filed a lawsuit in Washington DC against Halligen, claiming £1 million in damages.   

[Mr Moderator]

Oakley were engaged in March 2008 and sacked in September 2008 when their final report created acrimony between them and the McCanns.

[Wonderfulspam]

Henri Herman Exton, QPM Grade 7, MoD; London;

http://www.theguardian.com/uk/1998/dec/31/1

[Carana]

Published: 30 July 2010
In August 2009 we said that Mr Exton was guilty of shoplifting and that he was sacked as a result.

Although he was cautioned, we accept that the caution was rescinded. He was not sacked and continued to work until he decided to retire. We apologise for the error.

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/henri-exton-6497797.html

[insider]

Published: 30 July 2010
In August 2009 we said that Mr Exton was guilty of shoplifting and that he was sacked as a result.

Although he was cautioned, we accept that the caution was rescinded. He was not sacked and continued to work until he decided to retire. We apologise for the error.

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/henri-exton-6497797.html

A police caution is not given for nothing so regardless of how many strings were later pulled to have it rescinded the fact is the police felt there was sufficient evidence to give it in the first place.  Shoplifting is a crime regardless of your background as Mr Richard Madeley found to his own expense.  Again later exonerated when the lapse of memory card was used. Seems money does talk.

[Mr Moderator]

A police caution is not given for nothing so regardless of how many strings were later pulled to have it rescinded the fact is the police felt there was sufficient evidence to give it in the first place.  Shoplifting is a crime regardless of your background as Mr Richard Madeley found to his own expense.  Again later exonerated when the lapse of memory card was used. Seems money does talk.

Clearly the retirement from MI5 was by mutual agreement.  Exton then went on to set up his own consulting company and moved to Bury in Lancashire thereafter working for Halligen and Oakley International in the search for Madeleine McCann

[Angelo222]

A police caution is not given for nothing so regardless of how many strings were later pulled to have it rescinded the fact is the police felt there was sufficient evidence to give it in the first place.  Shoplifting is a crime regardless of your background as Mr Richard Madeley found to his own expense.  Again later exonerated when the lapse of memory card was used. Seems money does talk.

He took a bottle of expensive perfume apparently and forgot to pay for it on exit.  No doubt he was otherwise occupied in his surveillance activities.  That story sure stinks!!   *&*%£

[Anna]

He took a bottle of expensive perfume apparently and forgot to pay for it on exit.  No doubt he was otherwise occupied in his surveillance activities.  That story sure stinks!!   *&*%£

"Lacoste Challenge" ?

[Benice]

Halligen was hired by Trafigura Beheer BV (Trafigura), a Netherlands-based international commodities trading company, and its London-based law firm, Waterson Hicks.   Do you really think they didn't check him out first?   If it was easy to check out [moderated]s - there wouldn't be any - but the world is full of them.  He swindled them out of over £2million.

But according to you they were not his victims - they were his associates and once it was discovered he was [moderated] they then became ''associates with a criminal contact' but still not his victims.

It must be a source of great puzzlement to you that the courts did not share your opinion - and did regard  the company as the victims of a [moderated] - and subsequently found him guilty of fraud.