I admit that I was involved in the crime

Thomas Drach

Thomas Drach made the admission at the start of his trial in Hamburg, but declined to comment on the whereabouts of the missing ransom money of $13m.

Mr Drach is accused of masterminding the abduction of Jan Philip Reemtsma and could face a prison sentence of up to 15 years.

Mr Reemtsma, heir to a family fortune, was held for 33 days in a cellar until the money for his release was handed over.

Assumed names

"I admit that I was involved in the crime. I do not want to comment further on the crime itself because of the illegal methods the police used," Mr Drach told the court.

Drach: "I was involved"

Mr Drach was arrested two years ago in Argentina where he was using a false British passport.

He had driven to Buenos Aires from Uruguay with his girlfriend to attend a Rolling Stones concert, and was seized after a police phone tap.

Mr Drach had previously travelled round the world under different assumed names.

New clues

The security firm attempting to trace and recover the money say they have new clues which lead them to believe the money was invested in South America.

Three alleged accomplices to the kidnapping - Wolfgang Koszics, Peter Richter and Piotr Laskowski - have already been tried.

During their trials, Mr Drach was heavily incriminated and depicted as the ringleader and brains behind the abduction.

Mr Reemtsma was overpowered outside his home in Hamburg in 1996 and taken to a cellar in Garstadt, near Bremen. The ransom money paid to win his release was a record sum for Germany.