people making money out of madeleines name

4:05am UK, Friday June 29, 2007

A man and a woman arrested in southern Spain are being investigated over an attempt to extort money from the family of Madeleine McCann.


Four-year-old Madeleine
A senior Spanish police source said the man, who is Italian, and his Portuguese girlfriend are being questioned over an alleged approach to the McCanns to exchange information they claimed to have regarding Madeleine's whereabouts for cash.

Olegario de Sousa from the Portuguese police told Sky News his officers had joined the Spanish officers on the raid to arrest the couple, named as Danilo Chemello and Aurora Pereira Vaz, because of the extortion allegation, but had nothing to link them being held to Madeleine's kidnap.

However police say material was found at their villa that warranted further investigation of the extortion allegation.

Mr Chemello, 61, was initially picked up in the town of Sotogrande in Cadiz province on an international arrest warrant issued by French authorities before Madeleine vanished.

He has been convicted in France of mistreating his own child.

Madeleine disappeared from her family's holiday apartment in the seaside resort of Praia da Luz in Portugal on May 3.

Madeleine's parents, Gerry and Kate McCann, have remained in Portugal as they continue the search for their daughter.

A spokeswoman for the family said they were not commenting directly on the potential development.
"The Portuguese police and the McCanns are in constant contact," she said.

"They will be looking to the Portuguese police to advise them on any developments.

"They treat everything fairly and they look to the Portuguese as to what is given more weight and what is given less weight."

The couple said they would stay in Portugal until they are ready to return to Britain with the youngster.

They have been living in an apartment close to the holiday resort flat where Madeleine was snatched from her bed.

Brian Kennedy, Madeleine's Uncle, told Sky news: "Our hopes have been raised several times by reported sightings.

"We're trying not to get our hopes up too much because they so frequently get dashed.

"We've been cautioned to be careful not to read too much into reports but it shows people haven't forgotten about Madeleine even if the reports come to nothing.

"We don't want people to become tired of the story and they don't seem to be - everybody's been very kind and supportive."

There have been a host of reports of possible sightings of Madeleine, most recently in Malta.

The police there said they have received eight fresh reports in the past few days from people claiming to have seen the four-year-old, from Rothley, Leicestershire.

The reports follow a wave of possible sightings of girls matching Madeleine's description across the island.



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http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Sky-News-Archive/Article/20082851272677

Child abuser and girlfriend quizzed over £2.6m Madeleine extortion bid
By TOM KELLY and SAM GREENHILL
Last updated at 16:19 29 June 2007
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-464942/Child-abuser-girlfriend-quizzed-2-6m-Madeleine-extortion-bid.html

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A convicted child abuser was being questioned today in connection with missing Madeleine McCann.


Danilo Chemello, 61, was seized at 5am when specialist anti-kidnap police stormed his house at a luxury gated community in southern Spain.

It was only the second arrest in the case, now almost two months old.

Police were said to have found evidence in his house 'of relevance' to Madeleine.

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Aurora Pereira Vaz and Danillo Chemllo (right) have been arrested by police

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Timeline of key events in the hunt for Madeleine
There were reports that the garage of the two-bedroom villa in Sotogrande, near the famous Valderrama golf course, had been converted into a child's bedroom.

But police were said to be treating Chemello as a cruel conman who had tried to extort money from four-year-old Madeleine's family.

There is a £2.6million reward on offer for information leading to her safe return.

Chemello's Portuguese girlfriend, Aurora Pereira Vaz, was also arrested. She is being investigated over allegations that she has been involved in illegal adoptions in Europe.

Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry McCann, whose hopes have been repeatedly raised and dashed, were being kept in close touch with developments last night.

The couple, both doctors from Leicestershire, are still living in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz where Madeleine was snatched on May 3 from the bedroom she shared with two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie.

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Plain clothes police leave the exclusive gated resort in southern Spain where Chemollo was held

Chemello has served 18 months in France for child abuse. Spanish police said there was an international arrest warrant out for him over his alleged connection with French mobsters and a plot to murder a judge.

Italian police said Chemello, origianlly from Vicenza, south of Venice, was not a 'paedophile' but had a record for abusing a child.

Chemello and Vaz were both sentenced to 18 months by a court in St Tropez in 2003 for mistreating Vaz's five-year-old daughter.

An Italian police source said Chemello 'treated her like an animal'. The court heard that the child was kept locked in a darkened room with her hands tied with sticky tape.

The source said: 'They lived the life of luxury in a plush villa in the South of France but the daughter was treated like an animal.

'Her room had bars over the windows and she was kept in the dark with her hands tied together with Sellotape.

'She was not fed properly and what scraps they gave her she literally ate off the floor.

'They were unbelievably cruel but there was no sexual abuse, it was purely physical and psycological. 'The poor child did not develop at all because she had no attention or affection or education.

'She had no toys or clothes and could barely speak, according to colleagues in France.'

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A Spanish 'investigator' has been interviewed about the disappearance of Madeleine McCann

Chemello's oldest daughter Lucarini, then 19, gave evidence against her father and step-mother.

She told the court her half-brother, then seven, was treated like the ' little prince' of the family but her sister was kept out of sight and was often ill.

She sometimes had to be force fed and at one point social services had to be informed.

Miss Chemello said the family doctor was often at the bedside of the little boy, ignoring the existence of the girl.

She was shouted at and abused by the defendants as she gave evidence.

Miss Chemello was born during her father's first marriage to Carolina Tana, president of the political party Forza Italia.

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Gerry and Kate McCann: resolute in their determination to find Madeleine

Chemello was described in court as a retired Italian industrialist.

Vaz was said to own diamond mines in the former Portuguese colony of Angola. The arrests in Sotogrande came a day after a Spanish investigative journalist, Antonio Toscano, gave police the name of a Frenchman he claims is behind Madeleine's kidnapping.

It is not known whether police are taking his claims seriously.

Spanish detectives spent several hours searching Chemello's house in Sotogrande, a golfing enclave near Gibraltar popular with upmarket players such as Prince Andrew.

Police in Lisbon confirmed that two Portuguese detectives had taken part in the arrests.

Spokesman Olegario Sousa said: 'We thought they might be involved in the Madeleine case. It is a possibility but we have found no concrete evidence yet. We are waiting to see what develops.'

Spanish police said in a statement: 'The National Police have arrested a couple, an Italian man and a Portuguese woman, in Sotogrande, Cadiz.

'Police started to investigate them to establish if they have tried to contact Madeleine's parents in order to claim the reward on offer.



Two arrests were made near the town of Algeciras in the early hours of this morning. The port is just a few hours from Praia da Luz, where Madeleine was abducted

'The facts point to them being fraudsters, although the police investigation is not closed.

'In the course of these investigations officers discovered that the man had an outstanding arrest warrant issued by France over a crime of belonging to a criminal organisation.

'Furthermore, this person completed a sentence of 18 months in prison in France for mistreating a minor.

'Police carried out the arrest on the basis