The cop who has made $632K from Madeleine McCann’s abduction
An ex-police chief, who claimed that Madeline McCann’s parents covered up her death, has profited more than $632,000 from his book and DVD about the case.
The Portuguese former cop has made huge earnings from his book The Truth Of The Lie, revealed in court documents.
According to The Sun, Kate and Gerry McCann are currently in a legal battle with Goncalo Amaral over the allegations he made about them.
Mr Amaral has claimed that three-year-old Madeleine actually died in an accident in 2007 and that the McCann’s covered it up.
Kate and Gerry are currently challenging Mr Amaral at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, so he doesn’t make any more money from his claims.
Documents filed at the ECHR show that Mr Amaral made $432,000 from book sales in 2008-2009.
He made another $63,000 from the DVD spin-off.
The book has since been translated into multiple languages, with more than 180,000 copies printed.
An injunction against the book, to stop further sales, was issued in 2009.
However, the ruling was overturned on appeal and the injunction was lifted, a decision upheld by Portugal’s Supreme Court.
Mr Amaral was awarded compensation and received thousands of dollars from more sales.
Reportedly he also made at least $36,000 from interviews with newspapers and TV stations.
The McCann’s have gone to the ECHR in a last bid to avoid paying Mr Amaral $1.35 million in compensation.
Madeleine’s parents fear that if they lose the case, Mr Amaral’s payout will use up the fund set up to finance the continuing search for their daughter.
Sources close to Kate and Gerry also fear that Brexit may impact the case, with judges taking “vengeance” for Britain leaving the EU by ruling against them.
In their argument to the ECHR, the McCann’s legal team addressed the pain Kate and Gerry have gone through since their daughter disappeared during a family holiday in Praia da Luz in May 2007.
They also say that Mr Amaral’s book “incriminated innocent citizens, accused of terrible crimes they never committed”.
It goes on to explain they are trying to “protect not only their reputation but that of the child as well”.
They also say that Mr Amaral’s book was “extravagant” and “damaged the good reputation” of the McCann family.
Mr Amaral previously argued that his book’s allegations come from the police investigation.
In October 2007, Mr Amaral was removed as the investigation head and subsequently left the police to write his book.
An insider said, “Kate and Gerry still have full confidence the European Court of Human Rights will find in their favour.”
They added, “It hasn’t altered their determination to carry on searching for their daughter. They have never given up hope and this case is an awful distraction but they feel compelled to do something.”