The Dutch National Crime Squad has arrested a man on suspicion of trying to extort money from the parents of missing four-year-old Madeleine McCann by saying he knew her whereabouts.
The unemployed man (39) sent six emails to the McCanns from an internet café and a local job centre demanding a payment of €2 million in exchange for the information, the Crime Squad said in a statement.
Dutch authorities said there was no indication that the man, arrested today, was involved in the disappearance of Madeleine or that he was actually aware of her whereabouts.
Madeleine was snatched from her bed while her parents dined at a nearby restaurant in the Praia da Luz resort in Portugal's Algarve region on May 3th.
Last month a Dutch newspaper published an anonymous letter describing a spot close to the resort where it said Madeleine's body could be found, prompting a search of the scrubland area.
The Crime Squad said they saw no connection between the man, who was arrested in the town of Eindhoven, and the letter.