Christian Brueckner's planned early release from prison may be thrown into doubt after a mystery woman who paid his outstanding fines is demanding her money back.
The 48-year-old convicted rapist, who remains the prime suspect in Madeleine McCann's disappearance, was set to walk free on September 17 after an anonymous benefactor settled his €1,446 (£1,247) debt for a string of prior convictions.
However, the woman has now approached German authorities asking to invalidate the payment.
She is said to have told officials: "I therefore wish to contest my declaration of intent to repay the payment and invalidate the legal transaction accordingly."
The woman has been identified as a former officer with Germany's federal criminal police who claims she was involved in wiretapping Brueckner's cell.
A mystery woman who paid Brueckner's (pictured) outstanding fines is demanding her money back
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Local media reports suggest she was unaware of his previous convictions, including forgery charges.
The ex-officer maintains she made an error - and German officials are treating her request seriously.
Without the fine payment, Brueckner would remain imprisoned until at least the end of January 2026.
He was originally fined in 2016 for drunkenness in traffic and forgery of documents, and in 2017 for assault.
The paedophile is currently serving a seven-year sentence in Germany for the 2005 rape of an American woman.
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PICTURED: Christian Brueckner (left) sits with lawyers Friedrich Fuelscher (centre) and Philipp Marquort (right)
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His lawyer, Dr Friedrich Fulscher, previously told Bild that upon release, the convicted paedophile plans to live on the island of Sylt in northern Germany, where he previously received a 21-month sentence for drug dealing.
Another of Brueckner's lawyers, Philipp Marquort, told MailOnline he believed his client "will leave Germany" when released.
He added: "I don't think he will be coming out in September as he doesn't have any money to pay the fines because it went on his legal fees."
Brueckner has been under investigation by German police since 2020 in connection with Madeleine's disappearance from Praia da Luz, Portugal, in May 2007. He has vehemently denied the allegations.
The development comes weeks after two buried guns were discovered during an intensive three-day search operation near Brueckner's former ramshackle cottage home close to where Madeleine vanished.
MADELEINE MCCANN LATEST:
PICTURED: Police in Portugal celebrate the end of a search for Madeleine McCann in June
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Last month, German authorities launched fresh searches through Atalaia, a stretch of scrubland near Praia da Luz.
The area, known locally as the Fisherman's Trail, was cordoned off for members of the BKA - Germany's equivalent of the FBI - to conduct searches.
In a letter from prison seen in June, Brueckner boasted that police lack evidence against him, writing: "Is there a body? No, no no."
He claimed the dropping of the probe "will hit the world like a bomb."
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