Madeleine McCann prime suspect Christian Brueckner claimed he has information that could solve the “scandal of the century”, according to reports.
German national Brueckner allegedly told a shop manager he is “sitting on crucial information” while shopping for an untraceable mobile phone.
He is said to have added he “won’t last long” outside because he has “dirt” on people who want him dead, Farouk Salah-Brahmin, 32, claimed in The Sun.
Brueckner was released from prison in Germany last week having served a seven-year prison sentence for the rape of an elderly woman at her home in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz in 2005.
Metropolitan Police detectives said the 49-year-old remains a suspect in its own investigation into three-year-old Madeleine’s disappearance.
Madeleine vanished in Praia da Luz in 2007, shortly after she was left sleeping by her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, who went for dinner in a nearby restaurant.
Shop CCTV captured Brueckner spending £90 on a Xiaomi Redmi Android phone and buying a SIM after producing his ID card.
He also showed off his electronic monitoring ankle tag to phone shop staff and bragged: “Look, I’m under control?” before bursting into laughter.
Mr Salah-Brahmin said: “Brueckner told me he had some information.
“I don’t know if it’s the McCann case but he said he had evidence that could bring the scandal of the century to an end.
“He said he would end all the accusations against him. He said he can bring his own solution. He said something about USB sticks.”
Mr Salah-Brahmin added of their 90-minute chat: “The way he said it he must have been talking about the Madeleine McCann case. What else could he be talking about?
“It sounded to me like he was part of something wider. Something he clearly had knowledge of. Some network or something maybe.
“I thought maybe he knows other people who were involved - but it’s clear he knows far more than he had been telling the police.
“That struck me as weird - that he said he had knowledge of this but hadn’t told police. I don’t understand why he would do that.”
Brueckner has been seen twice at different kebab shops, and partying at a nightclub 48 hours after being freed from JVA Sehnde prison, near Hanover.
He has not been charged in Madeleine’s case and previously denied any involvement in her disappearance.
The Met said it sent an international letter of request to Brueckner for him to speak with them which he later rejected.
Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cranwell, a senior investigating officer for the Met’s investigation, said the force will “continue to pursue any viable lines of inquiry” in the absence of an interview with Brueckner.
He said: “For a number of years we have worked closely with our policing colleagues in Germany and Portugal to investigate the disappearance of Madeleine McCann and support Madeleine’s family to understand what happened on the evening of 3 May 2007 in Praia da Luz.
“We are aware of the pending release from prison of a 49-year-old German man who has been the primary suspect in the German federal investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance.
“We can confirm that this individual remains a suspect in the Metropolitan Police’s own investigation.
“We have requested an interview with this German suspect but, for legal reasons, this can only be done via an International Letter of Request which has been submitted.
“It was subsequently refused by the suspect. In the absence of an interview, we will nevertheless continue to pursue any viable lines of inquiry.
“We can provide no further information while the investigation is ongoing.”
A number of searches have been carried out by German, Portuguese and British authorities since Madeleine’s disappearance – with the latest taking place near the Portuguese municipality of Lagos in June.
In 2023, investigators carried out searches near the Barragem do Arade reservoir, about 30 miles from Praia da Luz.
Brueckner spent time in the area between 2000 and 2017 and had photographs and videos of himself near the reservoir.
In October last year, the suspect was cleared by a German court of unrelated sexual offences, alleged to have taken place in Portugal between 2000 and 2017.
The total funding given to the Met’s investigation, titled Operation Grange, has been more than £13.2 million since 2011 after a further £108,000 was secured from the Government in April.
