F1 News: Micheal Schumacher Legal Battle Comes To End As Update Revealed

Saajan Jogia | Sep 25, 2024

Nov 18, 2012; Austin, TX, USA; Formula One driver Michael Schumacher (left) and driver Kimi Raikkonen (right) share a car ride during the driver introductions before the start of the United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

The public prosecutor's office in Wuppertal, Germany, announced on Wednesday that it has filed criminal charges in connection with its investigation into the alleged blackmail attempt against Michael Schumacher's family. The blackmailers demanded a sum of $17 million as ransom money.

Since Schumacher's serious skiing accident in December 2013, he has not appeared in public, and his family, led by his wife Corinna, has kept the Formula 1 seven-time world champion's condition private while managing his affairs. However, this has been used as an advantage to extort money from the family in the past as well.

In 2017, a 25-year-old man was convicted by the Reutlingen court in Baden-Württemberg for attempting to extort Schumacher's wife, Corinna. He had threatened to harm their children, Gina-Marie and Mick Schumacher. The court sentenced him to 21 months of suspended imprisonment.

Speaking of the recent case, chief prosecutor Wolf-Tilman Baumert announced that the investigations are now complete, following arrests first disclosed in June. Three men are facing charges in connection with the investigation- a former member of the Schumacher family's security, a 53-year-old father, and his son with no known ties to the family. The former employee is accused of leaking private material to the other two in exchange for a "five-figure" payment.

According to DW.com, the former security employee was reportedly responsible for digitizing old photos and videos for the Schumacher family and admitted during his arrest that he was the source of the leak. The father-son duo, both from Wuppertal, are alleged to have attempted to use this information to blackmail the Schumacher family.

Investigators report that the accused possessed two hard drives and four USB drives filled with private photos and videos from the Schumacher family's collection, including some captured before and after Schumacher's 2013 skiing accident. They allegedly made multiple phone calls demanding €15 million (approximately $17 million) for the return of the material, threatening to release the data on the dark web if their demands were not met.

A Schumacher family employee in Switzerland first sought confirmation that the blackmailers possessed the material they claimed. This proof was provided through an untraceable email. Nevertheless, investigators managed to trace the calls made to the Schumacher family to a phone in Kassel, leading them to the three suspects. German authorities, however, have not revealed specifics about the nature of the material in question.

The 53-year-old man from Wuppertal is facing charges of serious attempted blackmail, with his son acting as an accomplice. Additionally, the former employee of the Schumacher family from Wülfrath has been charged as an accessory to the attempted blackmail and for breaching personal privacy laws. Prosecutors are seeking to extend the pre-trial detention of the two older men until the trial starts, while the younger man is currently not in custody. The Wuppertal district court (Amtsgericht) will decide whether to advance the case.