Turk sentenced in Schumacher blackmail plot
Formula One driver Michael Schumacher with ski equipment. (AFP Photo)
A German court has sentenced three men, including a former security guard and a Turkish national, for attempting to blackmail Michael Schumacher’s family by threatening to release private medical photographs of the Formula 1 legend.
Markus Fritsche, who worked as Schumacher’s security guard for eight years after his 2013 skiing accident, was given a two-year suspended prison sentence. His co-conspirators, Yilmaz Tozturkan, received three years in prison, while Tozturkan’s son, an IT specialist, was handed a six-month suspended sentence.
The trio threatened to release 1,500 photographs, 200 videos, and detailed medical records of Schumacher, demanding £13 million from the family. Prosecutors said Fritsche orchestrated the scheme after learning he would lose his position during changes to Schumacher’s care arrangements.
According to court documents, Fritsche removed the sensitive content from Schumacher’s estate using four USB drives and two hard disks. The family’s lawyer expressed dissatisfaction with the sentences, announcing plans to appeal the court’s decision.
The case has drawn renewed attention to the privacy concerns surrounding Schumacher, the seven-time Formula 1 world champion, who has been kept out of public view since suffering a severe head injury in a skiing accident in France in 2013.
