New details have emerged about an alleged blackmail scheme aimed at extorting £12 million from the family of Michael Schumacher. The plot involved a former aide of the F1 legend who threatened to release highly personal photos of him on the dark web.
Michael Schumacher, a seven-time world champion, has been out of the public eye since a skiing accident in 2013 that left him severely disabled. Since then, his wife Corinna has been fiercely protective of his privacy and medical care.
To assist with Schumacher’s care, Corinna brought in Markus Fritsche as a bodyguard 18 months before the skiing accident. Fritsche was trusted within the family’s inner circle to help with their needs.
For eight years the Schumachers had no doubts about the 53-year-old’s loyalty and he was given unique access to the most intimate aspects of the disabled racing driver’s medical procedures.
But when the family finally decided to make changes to the care regime and Fritsche was told he was to be let go, he is alleged to have become bitter – and then to have concocted an elaborate blackmail plot.
According to prosecutors in Germany, Fritsche recruited his long-term friend Yilmaz Tozturkan and his IT expert son to extort the staggering sum from the family who had employed him.
The plot they are alleged to have hatched centred around some 1,500 images, 200 videos and extensive personal medical notes about Schumacher.
The bulk of this super sensitive material was allegedly contained on four USB sticks and two hard drives which Fritsche is said to have removed from the Schumacher mansion once he realised he was going to be asked to leave.
Details of an alleged blackmail plot to extort £12million from the family of Michael Schumacher by a former aide of the F1 legend can be revealed for the first time today
Seven times world champion Schumacher, 55, has not been seen in public since a 2013 skiing accident left him seriously disabled and in need of 24-hour care
For eight years the Schumachers had no doubts about bodyguard Markus Fritsche’s loyalty and he was given unique access to the most intimate aspects of the legend’s medical procedures
The gang are then alleged to have made contact with the Schumachers, informed them of the material they had illegally obtained – and threatened to release this cache onto the dark web if they were not paid a ransom of a staggering £12 million.
The details of how Fritsche, along with fellow 53-year-old Tozturkan and his son Daniel Lins, 30, carried out the alleged plot will be heard next month when their trial is due to start in Wuppertal, Germany.
Tozturkan, a nightclub bouncer, and Fritsche had known each other for more than 20 years and live close to each other in Wuppertal, where the trial is due to take place.
In September Wuppertal public prosecutor Wolf-Tilman Baumert announced the investigation had been completed, three months after the men had initially been arrested following a joint operation by Swiss and German police.
It is understood that on the morning of June 3, Tozturkan allegedly used a withheld number to call and say he was in possession of photos and videos and allegedly threatened to release them onto the dark web.
It is claimed that Tozturkan’s son, Lins – who uses his mother’s maiden name – then sent four images to the Schumacher residence on June 11 and allegedly told the family they had ‘a month’ to come up with 15 million Euros (£12 million) payable in two instalments in exchange for the material.
The exchange was to take place at the office of the Schumacher family lawyer.
A week later on June 19 Tozturkan and his son were arrested by police in Germany after being placed under surveillance, it is believed.
According to prosecutors, Fritsche recruited his long-term friend Yilmaz Tozturkan and his IT expert son to extort the staggering sum from Schumacher’s family. The plot they are alleged to have hatched centred around 1,500 images, 200 videos and extensive personal medical notes
Schumacher lives and receives treatments in his £50million mansion in Gland, Switzerland
Tozturkan has been charged with extortion, while Lins has been accused of aiding and abetting extortion.
Both father and son worked at the Grey nightclub in the German city of Konstanz, which is close the Swiss border, and where they both lived although they also had apartments in Wuppertal.
Fritsche – who was working as a security guard at the Mercedes Benz plant in Dusseldorf, at the time of his arrest – worked at Schumacher estate as a close protection officer and aide, also helping the family with IT issues for nine years.
He began working with the family in March 2012 – just 18 months before F1 legend Schumacher’s ski accident.
During a glittering 19-year career from 1991 to 2012 with Ferrari, Mercedes and Benetton, Schumacher amassed a £468 million fortune, as he won his seven titles, winning 91 races.
Tozturkan is currently in custody while his son and Fritsche, who lives in Wulfrath near Wuppertal, are on bail.
Updates on the health of the Ferrari legend have been few and far between in recent years
At next month’s hearing judge Birgit Neubert will decide if there is enough evidence for the case to proceed and four dates have already been set aside for further hearings with the last in February next year.
Prosecutors are demanding at least four years but because of the amount allegedly demanded if found guilty the men could be given longer terms by a superior judge.
There was previously a blackmail attempt made on the Schumacher family – in 2017 a 25-year-old man was given a suspended sentence of 21 months for demanding 900,000 Euros from Michael’s wife Corinna.
The man said he would ‘harm’ the couple’s son Mick, but was traced after including his personal bank account.
