Spanish police arrested on Thursday an Italian man and a Portuguese woman for allegedly trying to extort money from the parents of missing British four-year-old Madeleine McCann.
The couple were arrested at San Roque near the southern Spanish port of Algeciras following an investigation launched when police learned they had contacted Madeleine's parents seeking a reward, the interior ministry said.
Security officers had raided their beachside apartment in the luxury "Sotogrande" block on Thursday morning before sealing it off from the public with police cars, witnesses and neighbors said.
"The facts point to fraudsters although the police investigation has not yet run its course," the interior ministry said in a statement.
Harry Potter author JK Rowling and billionaire Richard Branson are among the celebrities and business leaders who have contributed to a reward fund for information leading to the girl's return that tops ?2.5 million (US$4.9 million).
Madeleine, known as Maddie, disappeared on May 3 from the hotel room where she and her two-year-old twin siblings were sleeping in the southern Portuguese resort town of Praia da Luz while her parents were out dining nearby.
Her disappearance has been given widespread news coverage worldwide with her parents heading an international campaign to keep the case in the public eye and locate her.
Portuguese police excluded the possibility that the couple, who they said were aged 61 and 54, had any direct connection to Maddie's disappearance.
They were arrested "for other deeds" and "cannot be held responsible for the disappearance" of Maddie, a police statement said.
Earlier, Portuguese police spokesman Olegario Sousa said the Italian man had been arrested after he phoned a lawyer in the Spanish city of Malaga to say he had information about Maddie's abduction.
The suspect was also understood to be involved in trafficking bogus artwork, the spokesman added.
Spanish authorities said earlier that the French authorities had issued an international arrest warrant for the man.
Madeleine's parents have visited several countries to keep up their quest to find their daughter and have also set up a Web site, findmadeleine.com, which has received millions of hits.
Intense efforts by Portuguese authorities have not turned up many leads, despite more than 100 people being interviewed and dozens of searches of flats near where the family where staying.
In recent weeks there have been reported sightings of Maddie in Greece and Morocco.
British citizen Robert Murat, 33, who lives in Praia da Luz near the hotel complex where Madeleine disappeared, was questioned on May 15 but released for lack of evidence without being remanded.
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