McCann detectives - METODO 3 Arrested today

http://ansamed.ansa.it/ansamed/en/news/nations/spain/2013/02/19/Spain-four-arrests-Catalonia-spying-case_8273525.html

ANSAmed) - MADRID, 19 FEB - Four people from the 'Metodo 3' agency, including the owner, Francisco Marco, the director and two employees were arrested Monday night as an investigation into the Catalonia bugging scandal picks up pace.

Two of the arrested have admitted illegally taping conversations of members of Catalonia's Partito Popolare.

Partido Populare President, Alicia Sanchez Camacho, last week filed a complaint with police after claiming that a dinner in a Barcelona restaurant on July 7 2010 between herself and Victoria Alvarez, the ex girlfriend of Jordi Pujol junior, the son of former Catalan premier Jordi Pujol, was bugged.

In the illegally obtained recordings Alvarez was heard telling Camacho about alleged money laundering: 500 euro bank notes were stuffed in a suitcase bound for Andorra and her then boyfriend made threats not to reveal details of his family's money laundering activities. Sanchez Camacho alleges that the spying is politically motivated, given that the sister of Metodo 3 director Elisenda Villena, 'Ana' is head of justice in the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC).

Camacho hit back at criticism for not going to the police about Alvarez, by calling her story ''incomplete and inconclusive''. (ANSAmed).

Couldn't have happened to a nicer company!

Karen wrote:

In the illegally obtained recordings Alvarez was heard telling Camacho about alleged money laundering: 500 euro bank notes were stuffed in a suitcase bound for Andorra and her then boyfriend made threats not to reveal details of his family's money laundering activities.

money laundering.... You don't say!!!!!

Obviously Metedo 3 was employed by the McCanns to spy on Gonçalo and others in order to try and find some dirt on them. Maybe they were the ones who hacked Ricardo Paiva's facebook account. It seems that they don't do missing children, so why were they chosen?

The infamous 'Curse of the McCanns' strikes down yet more of their acquaintances....

Carolina wrote:Obviously Metedo 3 was employed by the McCanns to spy on Gonçalo and others in order to try and find some dirt on them. Maybe they were the ones who hacked Ricardo Paiva's facebook account. It seems that they don't do missing children, so why were they chosen?

Because they don't do missing children?

margaret wrote:

Karen wrote:

In the illegally obtained recordings Alvarez was heard telling Camacho about alleged money laundering: 500 euro bank notes were stuffed in a suitcase bound for Andorra and her then boyfriend made threats not to reveal details of his family's money laundering activities.

money laundering.... You don't say!!!!!

Money laundering?? Who would have thought......LOL

makes you wonder who else they might have bugged or what they really have found out mmmm

cass wrote:makes you wonder who else they might have bugged or what they really have found out mmmm

Indeed,the jigsaw is starting to make more & more sence

well, they do say that muck will rise to the top of the barrel and it seems that it is starting to!!!!

Google translation:

Method 3 acknowledged violating the law in their research

Intereconomía filmed Antonio Tamarit, bureau chief in Madrid. "At the political level, 'said the detective who best contacts we have."
They had contacts in all police for information. They used topos in all calls telephone companies to intervene. They could access all databases official institutions, from the tax to Social Security. If the client wanted to remain hidden, hired a law firm to make this appear as a client and thus erase any trace in the log. They could pay in white or black. If black, "No problem, no one will know." What if the investigation ended coming to court? In that case, there was no problem: the agency drafted two reports, one officer, to be brought to justice, and other confidential so they could remain secret aspects of research that could have broken the law. All very well groomed.

Part of larger article here:
http://www.intereconomia.com/noticias-gaceta/politica/metodo-3-reconocio-violar-ley-sus-investigaciones-20130220

Jeez, I do hope that Scotland Yard are keeping tabs on all this ...

Google translation:

CATALONIA
Method 3 is based documentation that would fill "ten vans"
Police find great information at the headquarters of Method 3. The judge ordered the officers to be installed in the office of the detective agency.

The owner of Method 3, arrested on Monday, Francisco Marco, has been present in the record of the agency's headquarters, along with a dozen police and prosecutors of the case Ulled Emilio Sanchez and Fernando Bermejo. The huge amount of documents seized had pointed to "ten vans for transportation," according to investigative sources, so it will discuss everything from company headquarters.

Part of larger article here:
http://www.vozbcn.com/2013/02/20/138308/metodo3-documentacion-diez-furgonetas/

Google translation

Agency Method 3 70 000 euros charged to parents of Maddie

Detectives said they had clues that led to a pedophile ring that kidnapped the girl and would have to travel to Portugal, Morocco and the United States agency charged EUR 70 000 without, however, presenting any results, because in reality there was never any investigation .
According to a source from the ABC, the guarantee agency - and charged - that tralhavam five people in research, when in fact neither would be three. In traveling to Portugal as the agency charged four people have traveled "when only one had traveled and who could speak neither Portuguese."

Part of larger article here:
http://www.dn.pt/inicio/globo/interior.aspx?content_id=3063443


The couple's spokesman Clarence Mitchell said the agency was "doing valuable work on the ground.'' He added: '"The £50,000 is for legitimate operational costs, having people scattered around different countries.

''The fund contributes £50,000 a month of publicly donated money because it's money to help find her. We feel that's proper use of that money."

http://www.mccannfiles.com/id76.html

SteveT wrote:Couldn't have happened to a nicer company!

But how did a supposedly respectable pair of doctors get themselves involved with such a dubious company, it seems every so called private detective agency was suspect and yet the Mcs seemed to be drawn to them .Its almost like they did'nt want a positive result .

Why would you hire met3 anyway when they are saying she has been sold in morocco to a paedo ring and passed on several times and KEEP paying them money when all the time the Mccanns have been saying she is alive and being well looked after....doesn't make sense at all.

kitti wrote:Why would you hire met3 anyway when they are saying she has been sold in morocco to a paedo ring and passed on several times and KEEP paying them money when all the time the Mccanns have been saying she is alive and being well looked after....doesn't make sense at all.

Nothing they've ever said made sense , this is why i continue to be amazed that they are not standing trial for something , the brass neck of them is astonishing .I watched James Bulgers parents recently and i thought thats what broken hearted people look and sound like , people who have had their world torn apart by the loss of their child .I have never seen anything like that kind of emotion in the Mcs and i never will .They are without doubt two of the coldest people i have ever seen , they could'nt work up a tear between them .

old article, but interesting now:

http://joana-morais.blogspot.com/2011/12/scotland-yard-searches-for-clues-about.html

A good read!

McCanns former detectives, Método 3, arrested for illegal spying

http://joana-morais.blogspot.com/2013/02/mccanns-former-detectives-metodo-3.html

when it truly hits the fan, i ll be here to hear it.

I like this one from 2009.....


Brian Kennedy No Longer Paying for the Maddie Campaign
10 MARCH 2009 | POSTED BY JOANA MORAIS LEAVE A COMMENT
The McCanns spokesman assumes that crises has arrived to the Fund

The man who paid  Clarence Mitchell, Método 3 and who kept running a real media machine  has closed his wallet. Brian Kennedy stopped feeding the McCann machine.



Clarence Mitchell, the spokesman for the McCanns, confirmed that Brian Kennedy, the British millionaire who financed the McCann couple, has stopped paying salaries “months ago”.

The statement was made by Clarence Mitchell himself after his speech, last Friday in an association of the Oxford University - the Oxford Union – where the former director of the control unit for the British Media - Media Monitoring Unit - spoke about his career as a journalist, the media industry and his role in the Maddie case. The millionaire Brian Kennedy who has once stated that he would be prepared to use the whole of his personal fortune – estimated at more than 500 million Euros in order to finance the alleged private investigations into the disappearance of Maddie, appears now to have abandoned his financial support for the couple.

A former window cleaner from the city of Edinburgh, Brian Kennedy was at the side of Kate and Gerry McCann when they hired the Spanish detectives from Método 3, with whom he visited the PJ in Portimão after Gonçalo Amaral's removal.



"I was working for the government when the news of Madeleine’s abduction broke. I was asked to go to Portugal to help with the media frenzy that was developing. In September I decided I wanted to work full-time to help the McCanns with their campaign so I left the government and Brian Kennedy stepped in to pay my salary. Some months ago Brian Kennedy withdrew from funding it and so the Helping to Find Madeleine Trust is now paying me to help continue the search for Madeleine", replied Clarence.

In spite of the McCann’s spokesman having announced in September 2007 that he was abandoning his position as director of the Media Monitoring Unit created by the former Prime Minister Tony Blair, he has kept a privileged contact with the [English] Government, quite frequently using the means and the internal contacts of the British authorities.

Madeleine Foundation Organised Protests

During his visit to Oxford University, Clarence Mitchell was confronted with a protest organised by members of the Madeleine Foundation, created by the solicitor Tony Bennett, who have made a campaign demanding that the truth about the Madeleine McCann case would be known. The protestors distributed a 64-page booklet on the Madeleine McCann case called "What Really Happened to Madeleine McCann? - 60 Reasons Which Suggest she was not Abducted", explaining the reasons why they do not believe the theory that the English girl was abducted from the holiday apartment where the McCann couple occupied at the Ocean Club, in Praia da Luz.



The members of that Foundation, which is totally independent from the millionaire fund created by Maddie’s parents, did not prevent or disturb Clarence Mitchell’s speech, but rather participated in the question and answer session to the former journalist. “If by the end of the evening we have informed people that there is another side of the story then our job will be done.” said Tony Bennett.

Facts

Millions. With the withdrawal of Brian Kennedy, the fund now supports the totality of Clarence Mitchell wages and expenses, even if the couple spokesman role has faded. Its unknown the exact amount that the Fund has still in the security chests, however since its creation private sponsors have given almost 3 million Euros to search for Maddie. The fund Leaving No Stone Unturned Limited, was created by Kate and Gerry McCann on the 12 of May 2007.

http://www.abc.es/espana/20130220/abcp-euros-busca-madeleine-20130220.html

Thanks for translation Ines{MCF}

70.000 Euros For the Search For Madeleine

C. MORCILLO/P. MUÑOZ / MADRID
20/02/2013

Image
Those arrested leave los Mossos police station in a van)

Método 3 prospered with media cases, its enemies label it as a “scam agency” and the agency was planning to become a consultancy company.

Whenever a new police chief was appointed in Catalonia, one of the first invitations that he would receive would be from Francisco Marco: a letter inviting him to La Camarga restaurant, which has been the operational centre for the Método 3 detective agency, very close to its headquarters. The current police chief, Eugenio Castro, politely refused the invitation, but his immediate predecessor and some of the others, shared a table with the influential Marco, PhD in Law and an expert in self-publicity. According to a former employee, one of (Francisco Marco’s) sayings was “let them speak about us, whether its good or bad.”

Marco would put this popularity into practice and during the last years his detective agency became a common name in the media, especially since the parents of the English girl who disappeared in Portugal, Madeleine McCann, contracted the agency to find her. His theory was that she had been abducted by a paedophile network and in the pursuit of this idea, he claimed some 70.000 euros, making continuous trips to Portugal, Morocco and the UK.

Ghostly expenses

“It was a scam. He said there were 15 people working on the case when there not even three doing so. They would present expenses from hotels in Portugal for four members of staff, when only one – who did not speak Portuguese - had travelled.

As well as because of little Madeleine – of whom no trace was ever found – fame reached Método 3 with the appearance of ex – spy Francisco Paesa, whom they “found” in Paris, after having been declared dead. Tracking of FC Barcelona vice presidents and the as yet unclear implication in espionage of the current Madrid Community, Ignacio González, also figure in the CV of this agency which has “received thousands and thousands of euros, whose whereabouts nobody knows”, according to a detective who knows about Método 3’s past.

Settlement

The agency was created by Marita Fernández, Francisco Marco’s mother, in 1985. She had already worked as a commercial agent for an Argentinean detective when she married her husband, a lawyer specialised in criminology. Since then, they have enjoyed very successful years and had constant business (although nowhere near the 20.000 reports which the director of Método 3 claims to have destroyed), to the extent that they passed on work to other agencies and individuals (sub – contracting) whilst signing the work themselves. The wide staff included an accountant and during the last years, an ex – policeman heading the informatics department.

uan Carlos Ruiloba was the head of the Technological Crimes Group of the Barcelona Police Force. Upon his retirement, he began to work for Marco and made sure that he was very well paid. A little over a year ago, when the agency began to be less than the buoyant business that it had been previously, Ruiloba left Método 3. According to sources close to the investigation, part of the money that was owed him as settlement, was given to him in kind, in the form of computer equipment. Last week this former policeman approached his police force colleagues and handed them supposedly “sensitive” material. He had waited more than a year to do so.

Uncontrolled inspections

He was not the only policeman to have contacts with the Método 3 director. In fact, for years it was common for Marco to have recourse to certain professionals, such as Scientific Police staff, who would carry out analyses for him, especially when he was not yet the focus of so much media attention.

The agency ceased to exist officially since last November and its director is facing several ongoing legal work claims from ex – employees. But Marco, with his CV and agenda abundant with clients, was already converting his business into a security consultancy firm, not subject to the police control that detectives are submitted to.

Método 3 has also been subject to these controls) there are yearly inspections of detective agencies) but has largely managed to avoid administrative and penal inspections. In 1995 Marco, his father, mother and one of his brothers were arrested for illegal telephone tapping of businessmen. In this case it was revealed that they had investigated the governor of the Bank of Spain, Mariano Rubio and his wife Carmen Posadas. The issue was shelved.

In 2011, during a routine inspection, the police detected serious irregularities, although the proposed fine, which reached the Interior Ministry during the Rubalcaba period (his mother enjoys excellent relations with Marita Fernández) came to nothing.

Last May, Elisenda Villena, second in command of the agency, was arrested during the Pitiusa operation (involving about one hundred imputed detectives and intermediaries). The agency’s book of register – which is an obligatory requirement, showing the clients and those investigated, as well as the dates of the work undertaken – was missing, because it got lost during a “flood”, but Método 3 was not fined on that occasion either.

I found this on Amazon last year and have kept it for just such an occasion as this! It's in the comments on the book.

quote:
Cyr Jimenez Says:
February 8th, 2012 at 12:06 pm

I have said that the McCanns NEVER looked for Madeleine because, while their friends were knocking on doors waking up the dead that evening asking everybody to look for the little girl that ‘had been abducted’, it was later established that her parents never moved from their apartment but were busy deleting compromising calls from their mobiles. (This is on record too).
When it was generally felt that the McCanns were not doing enough to find Madeleine and no Portuguese detective agency would touch them, they resorted to a well-known Barcelona Agency to which they paid a substantial sum (€50,000 from memory. It was not their money, was it?). The Agency immediately made a big song and dance of informing the world that they knew Madeleine was being held in Morocco and they were going to get her. I was furious.

It took me a while but in the end I managed to speak to the Managing Director in clear Spanish. I asked how was it that a Detective Agency of their standing could make such a ridiculous assertion making it known ‘they knew Madeleine was held in Morocco and they were going to get her’. He tried to wriggle out of it but in the end he said ‘DON’T ASK ME. THAT’S THE PARENTS STRATEGY’.
I am in no doubt that the truth will be known and Justice will be done IN THE END. It is doubly unfortunate that the ‘incident’ took place at the start of the Algarve tourist season so crucial for the Portuguese economy. Otherwise the Judiciária would have cut out all the pussyfooting from the outset.
unquote

tanszi wrote:when it truly hits the fan, i ll be here to hear it.

Oh it'll hit its just a case of when .

kitti wrote:Why would you hire met3 anyway when they are saying she has been sold in morocco to a paedo ring and passed on several times and KEEP paying them money when all the time the Mccanns have been saying she is alive and being well looked after....doesn't make sense at all.

Nothing they have ever said makes sense kitti .

Wonder if the Mcs worry that these PI's, eg: met3 and Kevin Halligan have nothing to lose now they've all been arrested......are they going to spill the beans is the Millon dollar(€) question

We got the likes of Tony Bennet been attacked, Mr Amaral court case coming up....need I say more to you Doctors MCCANNS