Case of attempted extortion Family Schumacher will be retried at the Wuppertal district court starting this Friday. After the plaintiff and the three defendants filed an appeal against the district court’s decision, now the three of them are back in court.
Five trial dates are scheduled through early December. The Schumacher family’s goal as co-plaintiffs is for the former security guard (54) to be sentenced to a higher sentence not as an accomplice, but as an accomplice.
15 million euros requested
The Schumacher family was blackmailed into publishing private photos and videos. They had to pay 15 million euros, otherwise the images would be published on the darknet.
According to prosecutors, there are 900 photos and nearly 600 videos of the family as well as digital medical records. Michael Schumacher has been secured. The hard drive is still missing.
Former Formula 1 driver Michael Schumacher has been shielded from the public by his family and employees since a serious skiing accident in 2013. He suffered serious head injuries.
The guilty verdict was in February
In mid-February, the Wuppertal district court sentenced the main defendant (54), who had several previous convictions, to three years in prison for attempted extortion in a very serious case. His son, 31, received a suspended sentence of six months in prison and a fine of 1,200 euros for aiding and abetting the blackmail attempt.
The former family security employee was sentenced to two years’ probation and a fine of 2,400 euros for aiding and abetting.
“In my eyes, he was the mastermind behind this. What still shocks me most is the massive abuse of trust. He must receive a sentence for this act that will deter anyone who might imitate him,” Corinna Schumacher said of the family’s appeal in February. His lawyer, representing prosecutors, asked for four years in prison for the man.
Two confessions
The main accused and his son admitted to the charges. For the third defendant, a former Schumacher family security employee, his lawyer denied the charges and called for an acquittal. Its clients do not steal sensitive data. This has been conveyed to various witnesses long before 2024.
The main defendant from Wuppertal, who was a doorman at Konstanz at the time of the crime, called an employee of the Schumacher family and demanded a sum of 15 million euros. A recording of the phone call was played in the courtroom. The blackmailer offers the family to reveal the man behind it.
In his confession, the doorman blamed the Schumacher family’s former security guard: He obtained two hard drives containing images and video materials from him.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:251112-930-280517/1
