Two child abusers behind a Europe-wide crime spree are due to appear in court today accused of plotting to extort £2.5million from the parents of Madeleine McCann.

Former construction tycoon Danilo Chemello and his Portugese girlfriend Aurora Vaz allegedly tried to claim the reward money for four-year- old Madeleine's safe return.

Armed police who raided their luxury villa in southern Spain found hundreds of newspaper cuttings about Madeleine, who vanished 58 days ago from the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz.

Chemello and Vaz are thought to have offered false information about Madeleine's whereabouts in order to claim the reward, which is made up of donations from business leaders and other well wishers.

Yesterday extraordinary details emerged about the criminal past of the alleged fraudsters.

Among these are convictions for treating their five-year-old daughter like an 'animal', blackmailing a judge and planting drugs as well as allegations of extreme violence.

Chemello, an Italian who had built up a multi-million-pound fortune, left his wife of 22 years and their two children after meeting Vaz at a party in 1992.

The couple were sentenced to five years by a court in Rome in 2001 after a trial in which they were accused of knee-capping Vaz's exhusband, Alberto Tana, during a bitter custody battle.

Chemello, 61, and Vaz, 54, were cleared of involvement in the shooting but convicted of putting drugs in Mr Tana's car and spreading false rumours about him being a paedophile.

The couple, who had three children, appealed and left Italy for St Tropez in France. In 2003, police raided their villa after a tip- off, where they found the couple's fiveyearold daughter locked in a room with bars over the windows and her legs and hands tied with tape.

She had been fed dog food from a bowl on the floor, had no toys or clothes and could barely speak.

In 2004, both Chemello and Vaz were convicted of abusing the girl and jailed for 18 months. While in prison, a cellmate told Chemello the judge who jailed him was involved in illegal business dealings.

On his release, Chemello hired a private detective to uncover the details, then blackmailed the judge for £60,000. But he was found out when the cellmate left prison and told police about the plot.

Chemello fled to Sotogrande in southern Spain but was tried in his absence in France. He was sentenced to three years and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

He evaded capture until this week, when he offered a solicitor information about Madeleine's whereabouts. But the solicitor told the police, and officers raided the couple's home on Thursday.

They found no sign of Madeleine.