Germany is currently following all the news surrounding the trial of three people accused of blackmailing with the publication of photos, videos and medical studies to Michael Schumacherthe legend of the Formula 1 who suffered a skiing accident in 2013 and has been away from public life for more than 10 years.
A father and his son have been on trial since Tuesday in the city of Wuppertalwest of German territory, and in their statements to the authorities they acknowledged having wanted to blackmail Schumacher’s family.
The main accused, presented by the media as Yilmaz T.is suspected of having wanted to steal 15 million euros (almost 16 million dollars) from the family of the German pilot, threatening to publish photos and videos on the ‘dark web’, the hidden and opaque face of the internet.
Accused of being an accomplice, his son Daniel would have helped him send the data from a technically untraceable email address.
“The main accused and his son have confessed,” a court spokesman told the AFP news agency.
This Wednesday, in the entrance area to the judicial cloister, a young man presented as Noahwho would be the brother and youngest son of the two accused.
The boy was preparing to give his opinion on the case when he suddenly disappeared from the frame, dragged by the arm and pushed abruptly by Hartmut Moyziodefense attorney for Yilmaz and Daniel.
“We had agreed that no one was going to speak,” the lawyer later excused himself, waiting for an unfortunate statement to complicate the situation of his clients, who face charges that could leave them in prison for up to fifteen years.
In addition to the two accused, a third man called Markus F., who worked as a security agent for Michael Schumacher’s family until March 2021 also appeared in court on Tuesday.
He is suspected of having sold to the main defendant, between October 2022 and May 2024, photos and videos showing Michael Schumacher before and after his skiing accident in 2013which he would have copied without permission when he was an employee of the German’s family.
British media such as The Sun They claim that the reason for Markus F.’s “betrayal” of the Schumachers was revenge: he was fired earlier this year for CorinnaMichael’s wife.
The exact sum he demanded to transmit this data is not known but “a five-figure number” is mentioned. The material was collected by Markus using 4 pendrives and two hard drives, while the concern of the local police is to locate a disk that would be lost.
Since his accident at the end of 2013 in the French winter sports resort of Meribel, Michael Schumacher has not been seen in public and remains protected from the media.
Michael Schumacher: at the end of the month it will be 11 years since the accident that took him away from public life. Photo: REUTERS / Stringer. The seven-time F1 champion suffered a serious head traumaspent about six months in an artificial coma and has since been receiving treatment at his home in Switzerland.
The oldest of the accused, in preventive detention, faces a sentence of between one and fifteen years in prison. His son, accused of complicity, awaits a lesser sentence and is free. The ruling of Justice could come to pass in Februaryafter a series of hearings.