Spanish police on Friday continued their questioning of an Italian man suspected of trying to extort money from the parents of Madeleine McCann, a four-year-old British girl who was kidnapped in Portugal last month.
Danilo Chemello, 61, and his Portuguese companion Aurora Pereira Vaz were arrested in Sotogrande on the southern coast of Spain at dawn on Wednesday.
But hopes of a breakthrough in the hunt for the missing child appeared to fade after Spanish police said on Wednesday evening that the couple were being detained over an alleged bid to swindle reward money from the McCann's.
A 2.6-million-pound reward is on offer for information leading to Madeleine's safe return.
The Italian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Wednesday saying that Chemello and his long-term partner "do not appear to be connected with the kidnapping".
The couple have a history of run-ins with the law.
Chemello, who is from Sandrigo near Vicenza in northern Italy, was seized under an international arrest warrant issued by France on charges including fraud.
The former millionaire served an 18-month jail sentence in France in 2003 for maltreatment and neglect of his then five-year-old daughter.
Pereira Vaz is reported to be under investigation over allegations of involvement in illegal adoptions in Europe.
The couple were also put on trial in Italy on charges of plotting to murder Pereira Vaz's ex-husband in 1996.
In the end, they were convicted of lesser crimes and avoided jail.
Another drug-linked conviction with a sentence of five years came in 2001 but the verdict is under appeal.
The kidnapping of Madeleine McCann has dominated the British news ever since the girl disappeared in the resort of Praia da Luz in southern Portugal on May 3.
She was snatched from the family's holiday apartment in the evening while her parents ate at a nearby restaurant.
Since then the girl's parents have toured Europe asking the public in various countries to support police investigations in any way possible, including by sending British police holiday snaps from vacations in southern Portugal.
Pope Benedict XVI met Gerry and Kate McCann at the Vatican on May 30 and blessed their daughter's photo.
British celebrities and business leaders including Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, soccer star David Beckham and billionaire tycoon Richard Branson have contributed to the reward for Madeleine's return.
