In Germany, a man and his son have confessed to attempting to blackmail the family of seven-time Formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher. They threatened them with private footage of the former driver, obtained by a former employee of the family.
Schumacher experienced a skiing accident in 2013, resulting in a coma, and little has been revealed about his health since. The footage possessed by the men included images from both before and after the accident.
The main suspect expressed regret to the family’s lawyer, admitting guilt on nearly all charges, except for paying for the footage, as alleged in the indictment. The first hearing against three men took place today in Wuppertal.
The 30-year-old son of the main suspect played a minor role, creating an untraceable email for his father and claiming initial ignorance of Schumacher’s identity, but acknowledged his mistake today. The third suspect, a friend of the main defendant, previously worked as a security guard for the Schumacher family and copied over 1,500 photos and videos, sharing them with the other suspects.
The family was demanded to pay 15 million euros to prevent the images from being posted on the dark web. The police managed to trace the blackmailers’ calls.
The Schumacher family’s representative, rather than the family, spoke today, highlighting the betrayal by a trusted employee and stating the family will never succumb to blackmail. The former security guard denies the charges, claiming the family asked him to digitize their footage, which later disappeared.
He already has a criminal record, as does the main suspect, who was reportedly on probation when arrested. The maximum sentence for this case is four years.
Proceedings will continue later this month, with a verdict expected in January.
Source: NOS