'I can end the scandal of the century,' reveals freed Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner

Brueckner boasted to shop workers that he could crack one of the "greatest mysteries ever" and showed off his electric ankle tag as he looked to buy a new phone, The Sun revealed.

The German added that he will "not last long" and claimed he has information on people who want him dead.

Phone shop manager Farouk 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.

“The way he said it he must have been talking about the Madeleine McCann case. What else could he be talking about?"

Concern is rising that Brueckner may be plotting to flee the country - and he spent £90 on an "untraceable" Xiaomi Redmi Android and a new SIM card.

He spent more than 90 minutes in the shop after he required help setting up the device and a new WhatsApp account.

The shop manager said it seemed like he was the only "real person" the paedophile had spoken to since completing his seven-year stint behind bars over the rape and torture of an American woman in 2005.

Brueckner committed the heinous crime in Praia da Luz in Portugal, the same resort where Ms McCann disappeared from while on holiday with her parents in 2007.

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Speaking about the strange interaction with the notorious sex offender, Mr Salah-Brahmin told The Sun: “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.”

While he was locked up, Brueckner refused to cooperate with police or provide any information surrounding Ms McCann's vanishing.

Investigators have claimed to have evidence that the British girl is no longer alive, but do not have forensic proof that specifically links the German to the crime.

Last week, Belgian police issued a stark warning to their European counterparts that a paedophile network may have ordered Ms McCann's abduction.

Brueckner's lawyers have repeatedly maintained that their client had no involvement with the case.

While London's Metropolitan Police recently confirmed it had had a request to interview Brueckner turned down.

The Met's senior investigating officer into the McCann case, DCI Mark Cranwell, said the force had "worked closely with our policing colleagues in Germany and Portugal" for a number of years and "support Madeleine's family to understand what happened on the evening of 3 May, 2007".

“We can confirm that [a 49-year-old German man] remains a suspect in the Metropolitan Police’s own investigation," DCI Cranwell said.

"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."

DCI Cranwell confirmed that Brueckner had rejected the request.

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