LATEST UPDATES ON INVESTIGATION

Four defendants Maddie case will be interrogated
By Miguel Ferreira and RSF

Four people suspected of involvement in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann are expected to begin tomorrow questioned by Scotland Yard inspectors, together with the Judicial Police.

When the DN found, the suspects were accused already constituted, according to the same source. Interrogations take place in Faro, Algarve.

Also tomorrow will be heard eight others as witnesses.

Scotland Yard inspectors have been in Portugal to investigate, together with the PJ, the case of, missing British girl's apartment that parents rented holiday in Praia da Luz in 2007.


http://www.dn.pt/inicio/portugal/interior.aspx?content_id=4000655&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DN-Ultimas+(DN+-+Ultimas)

Scotland Yard to quiz four formal Madeleine suspects
Last updated Mon 30 Jun 2014
World Madeleine McCann Portugal
Scotland Yard is to begin questioning four formal suspects in the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, ITV News understands.

Officers will begin questioning the four people - identified as arguidos, meaning formal suspects - tomorrow at a police station in Faro, Portugal.

Eight key witnesses will also be questioned.

The three-year-old vanished while holidaying with her parents in Praia da Luz in 2007.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/madeleine-mccann-cops-quiz-four-3791323#ixzz36ADscbat

Madeleine McCann cops to quiz four suspects including Russian businessman

Jun 30, 2014 22:59 By David Collins
The four individuals have been given “arguido” status, making them formal suspects in Portuguese law, and Scotland Yard detectives will sit in on the interviews

Scotland Yard detectives will on Tuesday help question four new suspects in the Madeleine McCann investigation – one of them a Russian businessman.

Officers are due to begin a series of interviews on Tuesday as the four individuals are given “arguido” status, making them formal suspects in Portuguese law.

Detectives from Operation Grange, the British arm of the investigation, are to sit in on interviews led by their ­Portuguese counterparts.

One of the four suspects is understood to be a Russian businessman who runs a computer business, the Mirror has learned.

Eight key witnesses are also set to be questioned as the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine reaches a new phase following searches carried out at the Praia da Luz resort on the Algarve.

British police earlier this month travelled to the town to examine scrubland close to the Ocean Club holiday apartment where the McCann family were staying when three-year-old Madeleine went missing in 2007.

They also carried out searches on two sites on the outskirts of the resort.

It has taken six months to gain access to the four prime suspects since Scotland Yard’s initial request.

Sources said up to eight individuals could be on the full interview list. Three are thought to be burglars who may have carried out raids in Praia da Luz.

Most suspects on the list are thought to still live in Portugal and interviews will be carried out at a Faro police station.

Clarence Mitchell, spokesman for Kate and Gerry McCann, said: “It is a matter for the Metropolitan Police what they do and when they do it.”

Scotland Yard refused to comment.

And here comes the MasterMind, wrong as usual - 8 July is NEXT Tuesday

http://www.itv.com/news/update/2014-06-30/scotland-yard-to-question-four-formal-suspects-in-madeleine-mccann-investigation/

Scotland Yard to quiz four formal Madeleine suspects
Last updated Tue 1 Jul 2014

Scotland Yard is to begin questioning four formal suspects in the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, ITV News understands.
Madeleine McCann went missing in Portugal in 2007. Credit: PA Wire

Officers will begin questioning the four people - identified as arguidos, meaning formal suspects - tomorrow at a police station in Faro, Portugal.

Eight key witnesses will also be questioned.

The three-year-old vanished while holidaying with her parents in Praia da Luz in 2007.  

SKY

British police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann have returned to Portugal to question a number of suspects.

They will be speaking to a key witness, as well as several individuals suspected of carrying out burglaries, as part of the second phase of the Scotland Yard probe on the ground in The Algarve.

The same team of British police who were involved in the digging of several sites outside the resort of Praia da Luz earlier in June arrived back in Portugal on Monday.
A Scotland Yard detective wearing a forensic suit works at an area during the search for missing British girl Madeleine McCann in Praia da Luz A Scotland Yard detective in a forensic suit during the first dig on June 2

Sky's Crime Correspondent Martin Brunt said: "Tomorrow, they will be joining their Portuguese colleagues and sitting in on a series of interviews with, I'm told, first a key witness, and then a number of people who are being described as aguidos (suspects).

"We think that this includes the three or more former workers from the Ocean Club in Praia da Luz where Madeleine vanished who are suspected of carrying out a series of burglaries in the months leading up to Madeleine's disappearance.

"Scotland Yard have made it clear for a while, if not publicly, that they are interested in talking to these suspects.

"Now it may be just a question of eliminating them, but they have certainly been flagged up during the Scotland Yard review of the original police investigation by the Portuguese, people of interest who need to be interviewed, who may become, in a sense, more official suspects, but certainly people that Scotland Yard believe could have vital information about Madeleine's disappearance."
British police and their Portuguese counterparts investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann seven years ago from Praia da Luz on the Algarve, in Portugal during a search of a patch of scrubland just outside of the small coastal town Police searched scrubland near Praia da Luz on June 11

Madeleine vanished from a holiday apartment in the resort of Praia da Luz in May 2007 while her parents Gerry and Kate, from Rothley in Leicestershire, dined with friends nearby.

An area of scrubland to the west of the resort was sealed off by Portuguese police and excavated by the British team on June 2.

Searches of a second and then third site were similarly carried out, with the use of sniffer dogs from South Wales Police, of an area between Praia da Luz and the town of Lagos behind a water treatment plant on June 11.

Sky News also learned an object recovered from the initial searches was sent away for analysis.

Scotland Yard has refused to reveal what intelligence led them to carry out the digs - and to give any updates on their progress.

More follows...  

DN

Four defendants Maddie case will be interrogated

By Miguel Ferreira and RSF Hoje
Four defendants Maddie case will be interrogated

Four people suspected of involvement in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann are expected to begin tomorrow questioned by Scotland Yard inspectors, together with the Judicial Police.

When the DN found, the suspects were accused already constituted, according to the same source. Interrogations take place in Faro, Algarve.

Also tomorrow will be heard eight others as witnesses.

Scotland Yard inspectors have been in Portugal to investigate, together with the PJ, the case of, missing British girl's apartment that parents rented holiday in Praia da Luz in 2007.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-28101400

30 June 2014 Last updated at 22:17

   Madeleine McCann suspects to be questioned by police

   A number of suspects are to appear at a police station in Portugal from Tuesday in connection with the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, sources have told the BBC.

   They are expected to attend a police station in the Algarve region.

   British police will sit in on the questioning, but only Portuguese officers will ask questions.

   Madeleine was three when she went missing in Praia da Luz in 2007.

   'Free will'
   The suspects are attending "of their own free will".

   They will be made "arguidos" - people of interest - after they meet police.

   The first person will go on Tuesday to a police station in either Portimao or Faro.

   All are Portuguese nationals, although some of those being questioned are Russian born.

   They have been identified as suspects by the British police.

   It is unclear exactly how many people will appear, but the BBC was told two weeks ago that up to 8 people may be questioned.

   The interviews will take place over two or more days.

   Renewed activity

   Earlier in June, Portuguese and British police searched three sites in the Praia da Luz resort, but found no evidence relating to the case.

   Scotland Yard said at the time that "more activity" had been agreed with Portuguese police and the searches were the "first phase" of a major investigation.

   The searches were the most significant in the local area since Madeleine went missing seven years ago.

   Her parents had been at a restaurant near their apartment when the three-year-old went missing.

   The developments come after the Met launched Operation Grange - a fresh investigation into Madeleine's disappearance - last July.

The Guardian

Madeleine McCann suspects face questioning as Met arrive in Portugal

Interview process to take place over number of days using some questions prepared by British detectives

Brendan de Beer in Portimão
theguardian.com, Monday 30 June 2014 23.32 BST

Image
Madeleine McCaan. Suspects in her disappearance identified by the Metropolitan police are to questioned. Photograph: PA

British detectives have arrived in Portugal before the questioning of several suspects by Portuguese police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

The suspects, who have been identified by investigators from Scotland Yard, include Russian-born citizens who have acquired Portuguese nationality, sources close to the case told the Guardian.

The interview process will take place over a number of days starting on Tuesday, using some questions prepared by the Metropolitan police, and has to be concluded within a predetermined timeframe agreed by both the British and Portuguese forces.

All the suspects who will be questioned in the coming days are thought to be Portuguese nationals.

"The suspects were all identified by the Metropolitan police. Questioning will be conducted by Portuguese Polícia Judiciária (PJ) detectives. The suspects have all been notified and will be appearing before police on Tuesday and in the coming days," one source said.

Those who have been asked to come for questioning have been identified as "arguidos", a Portuguese term for someone who is a suspect, but which also garnered infamy when Madeleine's parents, along with a British expatriate called Robert Murat, were given the status by Portuguese authorities. All three were cleared by a prosecutor in 2008.

"Questioning will be conducted solely by the PJ", the source explained, "but British detectives will be allowed to make suggestions during questioning, though they will not be allowed to direct them at the suspects."

When questioned over whether the questioning could take days or weeks, the source replied: "Definitely days."

A team of British police officers ended an unprecedented ground-level operation on 11 June after scouring 60,000 sq metres of wasteland in Praia da Luz, the holiday resort where she was last seen alive seven years ago.

In a statement issued at the time, Scotland Yard said the meticulous searches were based on the hypothesis that Madeleine was murdered and buried locally, with sources saying on Monday night the latest round of questioning is connected with searches that suspects face took place in Praia da Luz last month.

http://www.noticiasaominuto.com/pais/242663/pj-interroga-quatro-novos-arguidos-no-ambito-do-caso-maddie

Research PJ interrogates four new defendants under the Maddie case
Are being carried out on Tuesday interrogations under the case of the disappearance of Maddie McCann four new defendants in Faro Judicial Police, at the request of Scotland Yard, advances the SIC. One of the people interviewed is Russian Sergey Malinka that, remember, was investigated shortly after the disappearance of British girl in 2007.

Are currently being heard four people on the Board of the Southern Judicial Police in Faro, at the request of Scotland Yard on suspicion of involvement in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, advances the SIC.

Among these four is the Russian Sergey Malinka who was investigated shortly after the disappearance of British girl in 2007, but it was not found anything relevant.

Eleven more people will be heard but as witnesses. Efforts made at the request of the British Scotland Yard, should continued for the rest of the week.

The British detectives arrived yesterday to the Algarve and are allowed to attend interrogations but can not intervene.

1 July 2014 Last updated at 19:13

Madeleine McCann inquiry: Two suspects questioned

Two suspects have been questioned in Portugal in the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

The BBC understands one of them is Sergey Malinka, who was questioned as a witness in 2007 after the three-year-old went missing.

A total of four "persons of interest" - or arguidos - will be quizzed in the latest development in the case.

Interviews are being carried out by Portuguese officers with Scotland Yard detectives present.

Mr Malinka and the other suspect left the central police station in Faro after they were interviewed.

The Russian-born computer expert, who has Portuguese nationality, is likely to face more questioning on Wednesday.

Portuguese citizens

A third person, who is said to be suffering from severe schizophrenia, remained in the police headquarters after the other two had left. It is not clear when the fourth individual will be interviewed.

All of those being questioned are Portuguese citizens. They have all been summoned to be interviewed; there have been no arrests.

The status of arguidos in the Portuguese judicial system refers to individuals whom police may reasonably suspect are linked to a crime.

Local Briton Robert Murat - who was himself named as an arguido in the case before being cleared of any involvement - said it was "ridiculous" that Mr Malinka had been questioned as a suspect.

Mr Murat had worked with Mr Malinka in 2006 and 2007 setting up a property website.

He told the BBC: "It's absolutely ridiculous. It makes no sense.

"They've talked to him before, in 2007, so why are they talking to him again? He's a good professional and a hard worker. I don't know Sergey that well, but he is a nice lad."

Renewed activity

In June, Portuguese and British police searched three sites in Praia da Luz but found no evidence relating to the case.

Scotland Yard said at the time that "more activity" had been agreed with Portuguese police and the searches were the "first phase" of a major investigation.

________________________________


At the scene

Jeremy Cooke, BBC News at Faro Police Station

Outside the Policia Judiciaria headquarters in Faro a small group of reporters and TV crews is gathered on the pavement.

There is little sign of activity inside the unassuming white-rendered building, which is set in a quiet cobbled street.

But it is believed that, just before 09:00 local time, the first of several suspects in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann arrived to be questioned.

Several suspects or "arguidos" have been identified following the latest investigations by Scotland Yard detectives.

Each is expected to appear voluntarily before police in the coming days. The interviews are being conducted by Portuguese police officers with British detectives observing proceedings.

Sources close to the case in Portugal told the BBC that at least one of the arguidos is of Russian extraction.

_______________________________


The searches were the most significant in the local area since Madeleine went missing seven years ago.

Madeleine was staying in an apartment in the resort of Praia da Luz in Portugal with her family when she was last seen.

Her parents had been at a restaurant near their apartment when the three-year-old went missing.

The developments come after the Met launched Operation Grange - a fresh investigation into Madeleine's disappearance - last July.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-28101400

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-28101400

Madeleine McCann inquiry: Two suspects questioned

Two suspects have been questioned in Portugal in the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

The BBC understands one of them is Sergey Malinka, who was questioned as a witness in 2007 after the three-year-old went missing.

A total of four "persons of interest" - or arguidos - will be quizzed in the latest development in the case.

Interviews are being carried out by Portuguese officers with Scotland Yard detectives present.

Mr Malinka and the other suspect left the central police station in Faro after they were interviewed.

The Russian-born computer expert, who has Portuguese nationality, is likely to face more questioning on Wednesday.

Portuguese citizens
A third person, who is said to be suffering from severe schizophrenia, remained in the police headquarters after the other two had left. It is not clear when the fourth individual will be interviewed.

All of those being questioned are Portuguese citizens. They have all been summoned to be interviewed; there have been no arrests.

Hmm, something about Malinka is clearly of interest...but never mind, here comes the saintly Murat - same link:

The status of arguidos in the Portuguese judicial system refers to individuals whom police may reasonably suspect are linked to a crime.

Local Briton Robert Murat - who was himself named as an arguido in the case before being cleared of any involvement - said it was "ridiculous" that Mr Malinka had been questioned as a suspect.

Mr Murat had worked with Mr Malinka in 2006 and 2007 setting up a property website.

He told the BBC: "It's absolutely ridiculous. It makes no sense.

"They've talked to him before, in 2007, so why are they talking to him again? He's a good professional and a hard worker. I don't know Sergey that well, but he is a nice lad."

Have a look at Malinka's statement:

http://themaddiecasefiles.com/post1166.html#p1166

That's an awful lot of contact for 'not knowing someone that well'.

Bad move, Murat!

From another forum with thanks also for the comments.

Morais translation from some Portuguese newspaper:

http://joana-morais.blogspot.com/2014/07/english-ask-for-dna-of-arguidos-at-all.html

There's a big problem with anything currently appearing in the Portuguese rags - they're all putting their own spin, generally pro-Gonzo, on news stories, and Morais is then shaping translations to suit her own agenda.

Sample:

JN knows that the questionings were concluded in the early evening and that the arguidos aren't expected to return to the PJ Directorate. The last to come out, about 8:30pm, was Sergey Malinka, a Russian with Portuguese citizenship who had already been investigated in 2007 during the Portuguese investigation. At the time his computers were seized and his house was target of searches, however nothing relevant was found. He was a friend of Robert Murat, a former arguido in the Portuguese case.

The other arguidos are José da Silva, a former Ocean Club driver, Paulo Jorge Ribeiro, unemployed who suffers from schizophrenia, and Ricardo Jorge, who was at the time 16 years old. They are all residents in Praia da Luz, some live close by one of the sites where searches took place last month. It is Scotland Yard's belief that they planned a robbery to the apartment where the McCanns where staying for their holidays. That Madeleine woke up and was murdered, and her body was carried away, on the arms of one of the men, between those streets packed with tourists.

This is a theory that makes no sense whatsoever to the PJ. From today on, the 11 witnesses will begin to be questioned also at the request of the Scotland Yard

JN actually 'knows' naff-all.

It most certainly doesn't know what does, or does not, 'make sense' to the PJ - JN has made that up. Neither does JN 'know' who is going to be interviewed on successive days.

JN didn't even 'know' that PDL wasn't 'packed with tourists' that night - in reality, it was virtually deserted.

But is it not interesting that JN, like other Portuguese tabloids, had NO trouble believing that dead children could be carried through the streets of PDL when they were busily smearing Gerry McCann at Gonzo's behest?

http://news.sky.com/story/1293726/madeleine-suspect-quizzed-for-second-day

Madeleine Suspect Quizzed For Second Day

One of four suspects is being quizzed further in the latest phase of the investigation into the three-year-old's disappearance.

Portuguese police are questioning a suspect in connection with the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann for a second day.

Sky News' Crime Correspondent Martin Brunt said the suspect is one of four "persons of interest" being investigated.

A further eight potential witnesses are also being quizzed.

Scotland Yard is sitting in on the interviews, which were initiated by Portuguese authorities on Tuesday.

The first suspect has been named as Russian-born businessman and IT specialist Sergey Malinka, who is 30 years old.

He was spoken to as a witness, rather than a suspect, in the early days of the investigation.

There is allegedly a forensic link between his apartment and the McCanns' apartment in Praia de Luz, where Madeleine vanished shortly before her fourth birthday in May 2007.

In an interview with Sky News at the time, Mr Malinka strenuously denied any involvement.

Sky's Martin Brunt said additional evidence thought to be against him includes a conversation overheard near his apartment shortly after Madeleine's disappearance which police think is suspicions.

His car was also found burned out a year later and somebody had written the word "Speak" on a wall near his home.

Police have also quizzed a 38-year-old former employee of the resort where the McCanns were staying who is suspected of carrying out burglaries around the holiday complex.

The third suspect is a 50-year-old man reported to suffer from a mental health disorder who was reported to have been acting strangely when Madeleine went missing.

The fourth man being quizzed is another burglary suspect, aged 23, who is thought to have been a beggar in the area. He reportedly made a number of suspicious phone calls at the time.

It has not been revealed which of the four suspects was being questioned on Wednesday.

The interviews form the latest phase of the Scotland Yard probe on the ground in the Algarve.

Portuguese and British investigators excavated an area of scrubland to the west of the resort at the start of June but found no evidence related to the case.

Three suspects were in phone contact with each other during Madeleine McCann’s disappearance, police say.

By Jerry Lawton/Published 3rd July 2014

Detectives believe they were targeting the family until the moment the alarm was raised about Madeleine vanishing.

They have uncovered a series of eight calls and texts suggesting they were monitoring her parents, Kate and Gerry, before a raid on their apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in May, 2007.

Detectives are trying to discover if they intended to carry out a burglary or if they had a more sinister motive for watching the McCanns.

The first call was placed by Suspect A, a 51-year-old heroin addict, to Suspect B, a beggar then aged just 16, at 12.08pm the day before Madeleine vanished.

B then swapped four phone calls and texts with Suspect C, a 33-year-old ex-Ocean Club driver with convictions for theft, on May 3.

The first was at 5.26pm, at the precise time when Madeleine was leaving the resort’s crèche.

A text message was exchanged at 9.25pm when two of the McCanns’ holiday pals left their dinner in a tapas bar to check on the group’s children who were asleep in the nearby apartments.

The two suspects were in contact again at 9.38pm when one of the McCanns’ pals Jane Tanner left the restaurant to check on her children.

They were in touch again at 9.51pm as Madeleine’s GP mum walked to her apartment to find her then three-year-old daughter missing.

“According to a Portuguese news­paper, thefts had tripled at the Ocean Club at the time Madeleine vanished”
Later that evening, A made three calls from a public phone box in the resort to B.

Police have still not traced a man seen carrying a sleeping blonde girl in pyjamas towards the resort’s beach at 10pm.

Yesterday Scotland Yard officers including Det Chief Insp Andy Redwood joined Portuguese detectives continuing to investigate the three men linked by the calls.

Sources said suspicious hair had also been found that did not match Madeleine’s DNA. According to Portuguese newspapers a request to obtain DNA and fingerprints from the three men was refused.

They deny any involvement in Madeleine’s disappearance and have answered more than 250 police questions. Yesterday Brit police sniffer dogs were brought in to examine the cars of suspects A and C.

According to a Portuguese news­paper, thefts had tripled at the Ocean Club at the time Madeleine vanished.

None of the men commented as they left a police station in Faro.

A friend of Suspect A, whom a private detective hired by the McCanns said would “do anything for his next fix”, insisted he was innocent.

“He was indoors the night Madeleine disappeared,’’ his pal said.

“It’s inhuman a sick man like him has been dragged before the police.’’

A fourth suspect, a Russian, was also questioned. Yesterday police officers were quizzing eight people as witnesses.

http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/386992/Madeleine-McCann-suspects-kept-regular-phone-contact

Daily Star

Madeleine McCann suspect's car found BURNT OUT with 'TALK' scrawled beside it

A CAR belonging to a Madeleine McCann suspect was found burnt out.

By Jerry Lawton/Published 4th July 2014

MISSING: The Madeleine case is currently being investigated by British detectives from the special Scotland Yard team [EPA]

The word “talk” was scrawled next to it.

Police want to explore the theory that whoever set light to the Audi suspected its owner was withholding information about Madeleine.

“For whatever reason the British officers chose not to stay there. Luckily it’s the British taxpayer that is paying for these hotels not the Portuguese ”
Daily Star Portuguese police source

The arson attack happened a year after Madeleine vanished from her parents’ holiday apartment in Portugal in May 2007.

It is why Brit detectives had the man declared an arguido – formal suspect – and spent a day quizzing him earlier this week.

Sniffer dogs examined a vehicle associated with him to try to find out whether it was used to move the youngster’s body.

But they did not pick up any scent, according to Portuguese police sources.

The man is one of 11 pulled in for questioning.

A Portuguese TV channel said the interviews with suspects and witnesses had finished earlier than expected and the Scotland Yard team is set to fly back to the UK later today.

Last night it emerged the 12-strong Met team, led by Det Chief Insp Andy Redwood, has been staying at the five-star Ria Park Hotel & Spa, 24km from Faro police station where the suspects were interviewed.

The £180-a-night hotel is on the trendy Vale do Lobo resort where England’s footballers stayed while preparing for the World Cup.

A source close to the Portuguese police said: “There are two very nice four-star hotels a stone’s throw from Faro police station which would have been ideal.

“For whatever reason the British officers chose not to stay there. Luckily it’s the British taxpayer that is paying for these hotels not the Portuguese.’’

Mirror - cops want to search shop near Smith sighting

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/madeleine-mccann-cops-send-sniffer-3807955

Madeleine McCann cops to send sniffer dogs into shop where suspect was seen with child
Jul 04, 2014 12:14 By Paul Byrne

Detectives are prepared to fight for a Portuguese court order which would allow them to sweep the building for clues

British cops searching for Madeleine McCann are set to send sniffer dogs into a shop where a suspect was seen with a young child on the night the three-year-old vanished.

And detectives are prepared to fight for a Portuguese court order which would allow them to sweep the building for clues.

But Met officers in the Algarve hope the business owner will open his doors to their search dogs, rather than launch a long court battle.

There were a number of sightings of a man seen carrying a child towards the beach away from the holiday apartments were Madeleine’s family were staying in Praia da Luz in 2007.

Now detectives are looking at a particular building, believed to be along the same route, where a new witness has said they saw a suspect going inside with a girl.

It is understood the new information has been gathered by detectives working on Operation Grange, the UK probe into Madeleine’s disappearance.

The exact location and nature of the shop business has not been revealed.

But up to a dozen UK officers from Operation Grange are still in Portugal today , together with two sniffer dogs.

The team arrived early today at the Portuguese police headquarters in Faro where it is understood they are discussing the next stage of their investigation with local detectives.

Portuguese TV station SIC broke the news of the shop search.

heir report said: “Other work is still to be confirmed, including searches in a commercial premises in Praia da Luz where someone is said to have seen a man with a child similar to Madeleine entering around the time of her disappearance,  a procedure which may require judicial authorisation unless approved by the owner of the premises.”

UK police have been in Portugal since Tuesday, helping with the interviews of four suspects and 11 witnesses.

They have all denied any involvement.

Portuguese police are convinced the men are innocent.

And today the Mirror told how Portugal’s former Home Secretary launched an astonishing attack on the UK police hunt for Madeleine McCann.

Rui Pereira claimed Portuguese police had been “used and abused” and ordered to work for the British.

He has blasted the operation, calling it ‘absurd’ and claiming Portuguese authorities have been ‘subservient’ to the UK.

And he said his country’s police officers had been used as “outsource workers”.

A Portuguese source close to the investigation*******     has also claimed that this week’s operation had taken the investigation no further forward.


He said: “We’re back where we were seven years ago.”

All four men who were interviewed this week are being treated as “persons of special interest” or arguidos.

They were invited to be interviewed but there have been no arrests.

Last month UK police with sniffer dogs searched three areas of scrubland close to where Madeleine was last seen.  


********NOTE: 'Portuguese Source' is widely believed to be closer to Team Gonzo than any current investigation, so is best ignored*******.

From another forum with thanks also for the comments.

http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/387376/Cops-believe-they-are-innocent

Cash strapped Maddy suspects 'would have grassed'

THE gang accused of killing Madeleine McCann must be innocent because they would have snitched on each other to pocket the reward.

By Jerry Lawton/Published 5th July 2014

At least one of the “skint” men would have broken ranks, Portuguese police believe.

One was a heroin addict, the second a 16-year-old beggar and the third a driver who police believe organised thefts from apartments in Praia da Luz where the McCanns stayed.

Police and UK newspapers offered rewards totalling more than £2.5million for information that cracked the case. Yet in the seven years since no-one has come forward to claim the cash.


A Portuguese police source said it was “inconceivable that humble people with limited financial resources could keep quiet” for so long.

UK detectives believe Madeleine was killed during a bungled break-in at the McCanns’ apartment in May 2007 by a gang of thieves who then buried her on wasteground near the scene.

The three suspects denied all knowledge of Madeleine’s fate when quizzed by British detectives this week.

========

What a load of total sh*te! I sincerely hope no-one from the REAL Portuguese police came out with that rubbish!

Firstly, they wouldn't have got the reward BECAUSE THEY WERE THE CRIMINALS INVOLVED.

And what's this patronising crap?

“It's inconceivable that humble people with limited financial resources could keep quiet”
Portuguese police source

Of course they would keep quiet. Because if they had said anything, not only would they NOT have got any reward money, they could look forward to months of falling down police station stairs, kneeling on ashtrays, etc, with the risk of innocent members of their family being dragged in, too.

That imbecilic remark about 'humble people' has a distinct eau du Gonzo, actually, he thinks everyone's like him, motivated by money.

Odd, also, that Portuguese police seems to be blissfully ignorant of what criminals do to other criminals that grass them up.

No, Portuguese police source has to be Gonzo or one of his cronies, no-one else is capable of inventing such utter rubbish.

Just 875 yards from where Madeleine McCann disappeared – an abandoned well that police failed to search
Ex-Scotland Yard detective urges police to search scrubland used by gypsies
Hidden from the nearby road, the well drops 30ft down to 12ft-deep water
Mail on Sunday revealed a prime suspect may have worked at a water treatment plant just 220 yards from the well
By ANDREW YOUNG IN PRAIA DA LUZ, PORTUGAL
PUBLISHED: 22:01, 5 July 2014 | UPDATED: 22:01, 5 July 2014

A former Scotland Yard commander has urged British police to search an abandoned well just 875 yards from the apartment where Madeleine McCann vanished.
The Mail on Sunday has established that the uncovered shaft is on scrubland used as a campsite by Roma gipsies – and has been overlooked by Portuguese police.
Hidden from the nearby road, the well drops 30ft down to 12ft-deep water.
‘It is clearly known to locals and possibly to local criminals as a place to discard evidence from petty crime, such as handbags and other unwanted stolen items,’ said Roy Ramm, who served 27 years with the Metropolitan Police force and, as Commander of Specialist Operations, dealt with serious crime, from murder to rape and human trafficking.
He added: ‘Whoever abducted Madeleine knew the local streets, alleyways and scrubland and used that knowledge to avoid detection.’

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2681763/875-yards-Maddie-disappeared-abandoned-police-failed-search.html#ixzz36e7nYDH8
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