29/06/2007

Two people questioned over Madeleine hoax

Spanish police are continuing to question two people arrested in connection with trying to extort money from Madeleine McCann's parents.

The pair, an Italian man and a Portuguese woman, are accused of contacting Madeleine's parents, Gerry and Kate McCann, in order to try and claim more than £2.5 million as a reward for bogus information about the missing four-year-old.

They were arrested in the early hours of Thursday morning in the Spanish town of Sotogrande. The couple's apartment in the town was also searched.

It is understood that the man is wanted on an international warrant issued by France. Police also said that he had served time in a French jail for mistreating a child.

However, police have also confirmed that there is no direct link with Madeleine's kidnapping.

Madeleine was abducted from her family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in the Algarve in Portugal on May 3.

(KMcA)


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