F1 News
Three suspects charged in Michael Schumacher family blackmail case
- Nicole Mulder
The public prosecution office in Wuppertal has charged three men with attempted blackmail against the family of former Formula 1 driver Michael Schumacher. Local authorities have announced this.
Suspects charged in Michael Schumacher blackmail case
Earlier this year, three men were arrested in the blackmail case. A former family security guard, who was responsible for digitising private photos, allegedly made the images available. Another man allegedly carried out the blackmail attempt together with his son.
The alleged perpetrators allegedly made several phone calls in an attempt to extort €15 million from the Schumacher family. If payment was not made, the sensitive private material would be published on the dark web. Pieces of evidence such as hard drives, USB sticks and mobile phones were seized during the arrest of the ex-security guard who possessed the footage.
Schumacher has not appeared in public since his serious skiing accident in 2013. His family has kept the seven-time F1 world champion's condition private.
It is not the first blackmail attempt on the Schumacher family. In 2017, the Reutlingen court in Baden-Württemberg convicted a 25-year-old man for attempting to blackmail Schumacher's wife, Corinna. He had threatened to harm their children, Gina-Marie and Mick Schumacher. The man was sentenced to 21 months' suspended imprisonment.
This article has been created in collaboration with Matt Gretton