Why I was on the run by Maddie private detective

NOV 27, 2009
Liverpool Echo
Luke Traynor
Fraud suspect explains why he hid away at hotel 

A private detective paid £500,000 to help find Madeleine McCann who is wanted in the USA for an alleged £1.3m fraud claimed he went on the run from journalists. Kevin Halligen, 48, faced City of Westminster magistrates court, in London, after he was arrested on an extradition warrant in Oxford.

The US Department of Justice alleged he tried to defraud a London law firm of $2.1m. It is claimed he took the money as part of a deal to secure the release of Dutch business executives arrested in the Ivory Coast, but instead spent it on a mansion, a gift to his girlfriend, cash withdrawals and debit-card transactions. He was arrested on Wednesday at a hotel in Oxford, where he stayed for months under an assumed name, after being reported by a student.

The court heard Halligen claims he was forced to move from his UK address into hotels after press attention as a result of the McCann arrangement. The Irish national, the court heard, stayed at a series of addresses over the last eight months to evade reporters.

At the hearing, he was refused bail and remanded in custody until December 2.

Halligen's firm Oakley International was used by Madeleine's parents, Anfield-born Kate and Gerry, for around six months last year to look for their missing daughter. The Washington-based firm was paid about £300,000 by backers of Mr and Mrs McCann to help look for the little girl 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. It was initially given a £500,000 contract, but the McCanns terminated the arrangement before paying any more fees.

Melanie Cumberland, for the UK government, told the court she was not aware of any proceedings arising from that matter.