Inside plot to extort Michael Schumacher's family for £12m with 'threats to release intimate medical photos'
1 December 2024, 07:41
Details of an insider's alleged plot to extort Michael Schumacher's family out of millions of pounds have been released for the first time.
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Three men were arrested in Germany over the summer over allegations they demanded £12.5million (€15 million) from the racing star's family in exchange for not releasing personal photos and videos.
The racing legend, 55, has not been seen in public since his near-fatal skiing accident in France in 2013, which left the star in a six month induced coma following a severe bleed on the brain.
A 53-year-old bouncer, Yilmaz T, was arrested alongside his 30-year-old son in June, and a month later the Schumacher family's former security guard Markus Fritsche, also 53, was arrested too.
Fritsche is accused by prosecutors of 'masterminding' a plot to sell private photos of Schumacher.
The scheme is said to have taken place after the bodyguard was fired after helping look after Schumacher for eight years.
He is then accused of recruiting the other two and hatching the plot to release 1,500 intimate medical images onto the dark web.
The security guard is said to have put the images onto memory sticks when he knew he was going to be let go.
The trio are then accused of calling the Schumacher family and demanded the multi-million pound payment in exchange for not releasing the images.
The family called the police, who after an investigation were able to track down Fritsche and his alleged accomplices. The trio are due to face trial next month.
Schumacher's family have kept the driver's condition private about the star's condition since the accident.
However, a host of attempts have been made by outsiders to glean information on the star's condition.
Following the accident one journalist was seen to dress up as a priest in an attempt to access the star's hospital room.
Read more: Michael Schumacher’s family awarded six-figure sum in damages after court battle over fake interview
Now, Yilmaz T, stands accused of demanding large sums of money not to spill the sensitive images - including personal family photos - onto the dark web.
The charges of atttempted blackmail come with a maximum jail term fo 15 years in Germany if found guilty.
The suspect's 30-year-old son was charged as an accomplice to blackmail by prosecutors, amid claims he created an untraceable email address from which photos were sent to the family as proof during the blackmail attempt.
The third suspect, Schumacher's former security guard, is said to have converted the photos to digital form and sold them to Yilmaz T and his son for a "six-figure" fee, it's claimed.
The plot was effectively foiled after authorities in Switzerland contacted German police to inform them that the Schumacher family was being blackmailed.
Schumacher has been cared for by medical professionals at the family home in Switzerland since the accident.
It comes after Michael Schumacher’s family were awarded a six-figure sum in damages earlier this year after a fake interview was published by a German women’s magazine last year.
In April last year, Die Aktuelle published a fake interview with the F1 legend, who has not been seen since he suffered life-threatening injuries in the French Alps in 2013.
The magazine presented the 'interview' as Schumacher’s first since his skiing accident.
