A fine against the prime suspect in the 2007 disappearance of Madeleine McCann in Portugal has been paid off, German prosecutors confirmed on Monday.
The paying-off of the outstanding fine for Christian Brueckner means he could be released from prison in a separate case in mid-September instead of January 2026.
Prosecutors in Braunschweig confirmed that an unpaid fine of about 1,450 euros (£1,200) against Brueckner - has been paid, German news agency dpa reported, without giving further details.
The payment, reportedly paid by a mystery woman, moves forward his potential release date to September 17.
Brueckner has not been charged in the McCann case, in which he is under investigation on suspicion of murder.
He spent many years in Portugal, including in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz around the time of Madeleine's disappearance.
He has denied any involvement in her disappearance.Investigators in the UK, Portugal and Germany are still piecing together what happened on the night three-year-old Madeleine disappeared.
She was in the same room as her brother and sister - two-year-old twins - while their parents, Kate and Gerry, had dinner with friends at a nearby restaurant.
The outstanding fine was in connection with earlier cases against the suspect related to forgery and bodily harm, the weekly Der Spiegel reported.
He faced spending an extra 111 days in prison because he could not pay the money himself.Der Spiegel reported that a former employee of Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office paid the fine, but she had told the magazine she had tried to rescind the payment when she found out what it was really for.
A fresh search for evidence against Brueckner in connection with Madeleine’s disappearance was launched earlier this month but is not believed to have found anything significant.
