Three men have been convicted over a sinister plot to blackmail Michael Schumacher’s family.
The Formula 1 legend, who made himself an icon of the sport driving for Benetton, Ferrari and Mercedes during the 1990s and 2000s, suffered life-changing injuries after an accident whilst skiing in 2013 – and hasn’t been seen in public since. His family have been determined to maintain his privacy at all times following the incident, however that made them the target of blackmailers in Germany – who had threatened to release sensitive images unless a ransom of £12m was paid.
And now the BBC have reported that three men have been convicted of blackmail after an investigation into the incident. Yilmaz T, 53, was jailed for three years for threatening to upload 900 personal photos, almost 600 videos and confidential medical records to the dark web unless the Schumacher family paid €15m (£12m).
His 30-year-old son was given a six-month suspended sentence for aiding and abetting extortion, whilst a former security guard at Schumacher’s home, who denied any involvement, received a two-year suspended sentence. The father and son had admitted most of the charges and Yilmaz T, who worked as a nightclub bouncer in southern Germany, told the court that what he had done was “very, very disgusting.” He added: “I realised that on the second day in prison. I will answer for it.”
In his confession he said he had received two hard drives from the security guard, Markus F, who was accused of passing the sensitive files for a “five figure sum”. One hard drive is believed never to have been recovered. The judge blamed the security guard for allowing the blackmail attempt to start. The Schumachers’ lawyer, Thilo Damm, said the sentences were too lenient for what was the “ultimate betrayal” and they planned to appeal.
Markus F had been working for the family 18 months before Schumacher’s ski accident. According to the defence, Schumacher’s wife Corinna had asked him to digitise the family’s private photos. They argued that the material went missing after his contract was terminated.