‘Master of plot to blackmail Michael Schumacher’s family arrested in Germany

Jul 5, 2024, 1:16 PM | Updated: Jul 5, 2024, 1:42 PM

The alleged mastermind of a plot to blackmail Michael Schumacher’s family has been arrested in Germany.

A 52-year-old man who worked as a bodyguard for the Schumacher family was detained in the western German town of Wülfrath in connection with an alleged conspiracy, German media report.

The incident comes two weeks after the arrest on June 19 of two other suspects: a 53-year-old father, known as Yilmaz T, and his 30-year-old son.

The duo allegedly had photos of Schumacher following his 2013 skiing accident, which left the former F1 driver with life-threatening injuries.

Schumacher, who has not been seen since the near-fatal accident, was reportedly told by the couple that his family “does not want (the photos) to be published”.

Yilmaz T and his son allegedly demanded 15 million euros from the Schumacher family in exchange for not publishing the photos.

The security guard allegedly digitized the family’s private photos and gave them to the couple, receiving a commission in return.

A German prosecutor confirmed to the media that investigators found evidence confirming the photos in the 52-year-old’s apartment.

Police identified the 52-year-old during an investigation into alleged blackmail.

German authorities received information about the alleged plot from police in Switzerland, where Schumacher had been staying at his family home since the accident.

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It comes two weeks after the Schumacher family was awarded a six-figure sum in compensation following the publication of a fake interview in a German women’s magazine last year.

In April last year, Die Aktuelle newspaper published a fake interview with the Formula One legend, who has not been seen since suffering life-threatening injuries in the French Alps in 2013.

The magazine presented the “interview” as Schumacher’s first since his skiing accident, but it later emerged that the “interview” had been created using artificial intelligence.

The cover of the article featured a photo of a smiling Schumacher, accompanied by a headline announcing that it was Schumacher’s “first interview” since his injury.

The article claimed that Schumacher was able to “stand unaided and slowly walk a few steps” and that the star’s entire family was “very saddened” by his accident.

Although the article was unsigned, the anonymous author later confirmed that the interview was generated using artificial intelligence.

The Schumacher family initiated legal proceedings against the magazine’s publisher, Funke Mediengruppe, over the article.