Featured Image Credit: Pascal Rondeau/Getty Images/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Topics: Formula 1, Money, Crime, Michael Schumacher, Celebrity
Britt Jones
Topics: Formula 1, Money, Crime, Michael Schumacher, Celebrity
Michael Schumacher’s former bodyguard has been accused of plotting a blackmail scheme against the sportsman's family and as his trial gets underway this week, here's everything we know so far.
Markus Fritsche, 53, has been accused of stealing approximately 1,500 photographs and 200 videos in an alleged £12 million blackmail scheme.
Prosecutors claim the materials contained classified medical documents and information about Schumacher's health.
Schumacher suffered a life-changing injury when he was on a skiing holiday in 2013 with his son Mick, who was then 14, as he travelled across an off-piste area of the slope.
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It was during this section that he fell and hit his head on a rock.
Despite wearing a helmet, he suffered a serious head injury and was airlifted to hospital, where he was put in a medically induced coma.
In 2014, Schumacher was brought out of the coma and has lived an extremely private life, having not been pictured since.
As well as Fritsche, two other men also stand accused of being part of the alleged plot, including friend Yilmaz Tozturkan, 53, and Tozturkan's son Daniel Lins, 30.
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The trial kicked off on Tuesday in Wuppertal, Germany with Bild reporting that Fritsche could be in for ‘a severe prison sentence’ if found guilty.
As for Tozturkan, a prosecutor stated that he faces up to 15 years in prison for his part in the alleged plot if found guilty.
Prosecutors say his plan was ‘attempted extortion in a particularly serious case’ and that Fritsche violated ‘the most personal sphere of life’ of Schumacher.
Fritsche spent eight years working as a bodyguard to the Formula 1 racer after being hired in 2012, which was around a year and a half before Schumacher’s accident.
Once he was let go from his post, Fritsche has been accused of using the details he was privy to in order to extort money from the family.
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The men are alleged to have got in touch with the family and told them that they would share the materials on two USB drives to the dark web if they did not receive a ransom of £12m.
Tozturkan allegedly used a withheld number to make the call on 3 June, with his son, Lins sending four images to their home little over a week later along with a message that they had ‘a month’ to pay the fee before they released them to the web, prosecutors say.
But their alleged plot fell through incredibly early on.
It was just a week after they are alleged to have sent the images that Tozturkan and his son were arrested in a car park by German police on June 19 after being placed on surveillance by authorities.
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Fritsche was arrested two weeks later at his home.
While Tozturkan was charged with extortion, Lins stands accused of aiding and abetting extortion.
The Schumacher family have worked incredibly hard to preserve the former racer’s privacy after his injury, and the release of the images and videos would reveal all to the world.
Corinna, Schumacher’s wife, is said to have filed a motion to prevent the public from learning details surrounding her husband’s health during the trial.
The trial continues.