A father and son, on trial since Tuesday in Germany, have confessed to having tried to blackmail Michael Schumacher's family by threatening to publish photos of the former Formula 1 champion.
200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000The main accused, Yilmaz T., is suspected of having tried to extort 15 million euros from the racing driver's family by threatening to publish photos and videos on the darknet, the hidden and opaque side of the web. Accused of complicity, his son Daniel allegedly helped him send data from a technically untraceable email address.
“The main accused and his son have confessed,” a spokeswoman for the Wuppertal court (western Germany) told AFP. In addition to the two accused, a third man who worked as a security guard for Michael Schumacher's family until March 2021, also appears in court on Tuesday.
Images sold by a security guard
He is suspected of having sold to the main accused, between October 2022 and May 2024, photos and videos showing Michael Schumacher before and after his skiing accident in 2013, which he allegedly copied without permission when he was employed by the driver's family. The exact amount he demanded to hand over this data is not known but is mentioned as “a 5-figure amount”.
Since his accident at the end of 2013 in the French winter sports resort of Méribel, Michael Schumacher has not been seen in public and has been kept away from the media. The seven-time F1 champion suffered a serious head injury, spent nearly six months in an artificial coma and is being treated at his home in Switzerland.
The eldest of the blackmailers, in pre-trial detention, risks between one and fifteen years in prison. His son, accused of complicity, risks a lesser sentence and is free. Several hearings are scheduled in this trial until mid-February.