The new documentary will air next week on Channel 5[PA]Kevin Halligen will break his silence in an exclusive Channel 5 interview for a documentary, The McCanns And The Conman.
The 53-year-old set up Operation Omega after being commissioned by parents Kate and Gerry McCann to find Maddy, who vanished at the age of three while on holiday in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in May 2007.
Halligan, a Surrey-based Irishman, promised to use his MI5, MI6 and CIA “contacts” to try to track down the girl.
The security consultant signed a six-figure contract – but questions were later raised over exactly how the money was spent.
Now Halligen, who also claimed to have FBI and White House connections, has agreed to tell his side of the story.
This is the extraordinary story of one man’s audacious claims, and how he fooled the intelligence community
The documentary, due to be screened next week, reads like the plot of a spy movie.
It is an extraordinary tale of covert surveillance, sting operations and the bugging of a key witness through the twists and turns of the hunt for a man who was then a prime suspect, code-named “George”.
Halligen’s final report is said to contain significant leads that now form part of the current Scotland Yard investigation, including the crucial e-fits based on the so-called “Smith sighting”, which was aired on Crimewatch last October.
But it transpired that Halligen was an audacious conman, who led people into believing he was a spy.
He was arrested in 2009 and jailed in the US for defrauding an unrelated client on a previous kidnap and ransom case.
He has recently been released from prison.
Channel 5’s Emma Westcott said: “This is the extraordinary story of one man’s audacious claims, and how he fooled the intelligence community.”
• The McCanns And The Conman, Channel 5, June 4, 9pm.
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