Prosecutor Reveals Insights into the Schumacher Extortion Scandal
Ex-Formula-1 speedster Michael Schumacher's family is under threat of blackmail. Two individuals have been apprehended in Wuppertal, as stated by media reports. The authorities have verified the matter and revealed that the accused blackmailers are not strangers to them.
It is speculated that the family of the previous Formula-1 World Champion, Michael Schumacher, is being targeted by extortionists. These crooks assert they have confidential data in their possession that the family might want to keep hidden, according to Senior Public Prosecutor Wolf-Tilman Baumert in Wuppertal. The prosecutor's office is working diligently on the case, as the prosecutor announced. The alleged blackmailers supposedly demanded a sum in millions, threatening to release the data on the Darknet if not paid. They allegedly transmitted some files to the family as evidence. The prosecutor initially refused to disclose details about the nature of the files.
The family declined to comment on the matter when approached by the German Press Agency. An RTL spokesperson referred to the ongoing investigations. It was discovered through "technical measures" that the alleged blackmailers were active in Wuppertal, according to the prosecutor. Two men, aged 53 and 30, were taken into custody as suspects - father and son. They were arrested on a supermarket parking lot in Groß-Gerau, Hesse, on June 19th.
Currently, they are in custody. "They could face up to five years in prison for this case," said Senior Public Prosecutor Baumert. The two are also known to the police: They are currently under surveillance in another case, according to Baumert. In connection with the investigations, eight locations were searched, including the main residences of the accused, the second residence and workplace of the older suspect in Konstanz, and rooms of other people, such as in Solingen. Several data storage devices were found during the search. Their analysis is currently ongoing.
Note from Switzerland
The inquiry was initially led by the Kassel Public Prosecutor's Office. It was initiated based on a tip from the Swiss criminal investigation authorities. The investigators had announced at the end of the previous week that arrests had been made in connection with an extortion case "against a prominent figure." The name of the prominent figure was not initially disclosed by the investigators. The "Bild" had first reported on an extortion attempt on the Schumacher family.
This is not the first attempt to extort the family of the former racing driver. In 2017, the Reutlingen District Court in Baden-Württemberg sentenced a 25-year-old man for attempting to extort €900,000 from Michael Schumacher's wife, Corinna Schumacher. He had threatened that harm would come to the children if not paid. The man was sentenced to a 21-month probation period.
The convicted individual had provided his real bank account details at a German bank in an email to Corinna Schumacher at the time. This allowed the police to locate him swiftly.
Seven-time Formula One World Champion Schumacher has been in retirement since a skiing accident at the end of 2013. Little is known about his current health status following the severe brain injuries he sustained then. His family prefers to keep his private life confidential.
