'Private detective' fleeced missing Madeleine McCann fund of £300,000

A 'Walter Mitty' private investigator who claimed to be an experienced secret agent was allegedly paid £300,000 from the funds raised to try to find Madeleine McCann.

Thousands of members of the public donated money to Gerry and Kate McCann's fund after their three-year-old daughter went missing during a holiday in Portugal in May 2007.

Now it has emerged that a sizeable portion of that money was paid to self-proclaimed security consultant Kevin Halligen, 50, a Briton who boasted that secret service contacts in Washington DC could provide satellite images of Portugal from the night Madeleine disappeared.

In fact, it is claimed, the only satellite picture he produced came from the publicly available Google Earth website - and late last year he disappeared from Washington after the U.S. Department of Justice issued a warrant for his arrest over an alleged £1million fraud.

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Cheating Wife Stole $243,000 from Family to Fund Double Life

A cheating wife stole $243,000 from her family to fund a luxurious double life with a secret lover.

Fiona Gibson, 39, pretended to leave for work every morning and often stayed away on “business”, a court was told.

But the jobless Brit was really living in hotels with a secret boyfriend - and spending thousands on cars, jewellery, clothes and beauty treatments, The Sun reported.

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Private Investigators Probe Payroll Scam

Private investigators have been hired to conduct an internal investigation at Waukegan High School, following the arrest of two security guards in January for alleged pay irregularities.

The three investigators from Naperville-based Probe International are conducting interviews at the high school and checking documents and payroll records, according to Thomas Morris, legal counsel for Waukegan Public Schools.

Supreme Court Referee: Hurley Didn’t Break Ethics Rules

A prominent defense attorney did nothing wrong when he tricked a boy out of his laptop computer to gather evidence, a state Supreme Court referee said Tuesday.

Stephen Hurley reasonably chose to use a ruse to get potentially exculpatory evidence, referee Judith Sperling-Newton wrote, noting that Wisconsin’s rules prohibiting lawyers from engaging in dishonesty and fraud are vague.

Real Estate Fraud Is On the Rise: Protect Yourself

Investigation News - Real Estate Fraud Is On the Rise: Protect Yourself - PInow.com Investigator Directory: "Real estate fraud is on the rise. Knowing the popular scams out there and knowing how to protect against this type of criminal activity is essential.

Real estate fraud is an umbrella term for criminal activity involving real estate – criminal activity that usually amounts to little more than theft. According to new statistics, the problem seems to be getting worse. The FBI reported that in 2005 alone, real estate fraud cost the country at least $606 million. The Treasury Department is tracking 35% more suspicious through 2006. The IRS reports that cases of mortgage fraud that have been brought to their attention have been doubling every two years, starting with this decade. This worrisome trend means that all real estate investors and homeowners should be on the alert."

Learn more about real estate fraud by clicking the link below:
Real Estate Fraud Is On the Rise: Protect Yourself