Kidnapped Maddie McCann’s Desperate Parents Now Facing Bankruptcy
Mar. 24 2017, Published 12:33 a.m. ET
Madeleine McCann’s parents are still desperately searching for their missing daughter, but in a twisted turn of events, RadarOnline.com has learned they are facing bankruptcy over a brutal legal battle with the cop who initially investigated their child’s disappearance.
Kate and Gerry McCann sued Goncalo Amaral, the first detective on their daughter’s case after he wrote a book that blamed them for Maddie’s death. He'd wrongly claimed that they killed her in their Portuguese hotel room and covered up the crime.
They won their case and he was ordered to pay them $500,000 but the Portuguese Supreme Court later over-turned their verdict.
They appealed, but a judge dismissed their claims AND ordered the McCanns to pay Amaral’s legal costs.
The Daily Star reported the McCanns could end up paying the fired detective up to six figures, taking the remaining cash from the fund that was set up to help find Maddie, if the trustees agree to the payout.
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The McCanns were “disappointed but not surprised,” by the ruling, the paper reported. The family's spokesperson, Clarence Mitchell, said: “This is just another part of the legal challenge.”
He would not confirm if they were going to the European Court of Human Rights, but a loss could bankrupt the McCanns, as the fund currently has only $900,000 left.
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