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As Michael Schumacher’s trial begins this week, this is what we currently know about the former bodyguard who is suspected of arranging a blackmail conspiracy against the athlete’s family.
In an alleged £12 million blackmail scheme, Markus Fritsche, 53, is accused of stealing some 1,500 photos and 200 recordings.
According to the prosecution, the papers included Schumacher’s health information and confidential medical records.
While on a skiing vacation with his 14-year-old son Mick in 2013, Schumacher crossed an off-piste section of the slope and sustained a life-altering injury.
He fell and struck his head on a rock during this section.
He was rushed to the hospital after suffering a severe head injury despite wearing a helmet, where he was placed in a medically induced coma.
After being rescued from a coma in 2014, Schumacher has had a very secluded existence and hasn’t been photographed since.
Who has been implicated in the purported blackmail scheme?
In addition to Fritsche, two other men—friend Yilmaz Tozturkan, 53, and Tozturkan’s son Daniel Lins, 30—are also charged with involvement in the purported plot.
The trial began Tuesday in Wuppertal, Germany, and according to Bild, Fritsche would face “a severe prison sentence” if convicted.
If proven guilty, Tozturkan may spend up to 15 years in prison for his involvement in the alleged scheme, according to a prosecutor.
According to the prosecution, Fritsche’s scheme was a “attempted extortion in a particularly serious case,” and it infringed onto Schumacher’s “most personal sphere of life.”
After being hired in 2012, around a year and a half prior to Schumacher’s accident, Fritsche served as the Formula 1 racer’s bodyguard for eight years.
What was involved in the purported blackmail scheme?
Fritsche has been charged with exploiting the information he had access to to demand money from the family after being fired from his position.
The men allegedly contacted the family and threatened to release the contents on two USB drives on the dark web unless they were paid £12 million in ransom.
On June 3, Tozturkan allegedly called a withheld number. A little more than a week later, his son Lins sent four pictures to their home with a note stating that they had “a month” to pay the amount before the images were posted online, according to the prosecution.
However, their purported scheme failed rather quickly.
The purported plot falls apart.
Only a week after they are accused of sending the pictures, Tozturkan and his son were taken into custody by German police on June 19 in a parking lot after being put under observation.
Two weeks later, Fritsche was taken into custody at his residence.
Lins is accused of aiding and abetting extortion, while Tozturkan was charged with extortion.
The world would learn all about the Schumacher family’s tremendous efforts to protect the former racer’s privacy following his accident if the photos and films were made public.
According to reports, Corinna, Schumacher’s wife, filed a motion to keep information about her husband’s health from the public throughout the trial.
The trial goes on.
