Court issues jail sentence after Schumacher blackmail plot

Three men who attempted to extort the Schumacher family for a sum of €15 million have been found guilty. 

The trial found more than 1,500 images, videos and medical records had been stolen from a computer, after which the Schumacher family was demanded to pay to stop the files from being made public.

Nightclub bouncer Yilmaz Tozturkan was sentenced to three years in prison while his son, Daniel Lins, 30, was given a six-month suspended sentence.

Also on trial was Schumacher's former bodyguard Markus Fritsche, who was handed a two-year suspended sentence.

The trial began in December and heard the sensitive information was obtained by Fritsche who passed the files to Tozturkan, before the money was demanded.

Prior to the sentencing, Tozturkan is said to have expressed regret for his involvement.

Thilo Damm, who represented the Schumacher family in the trial, has confirmed the intention to appeal the sentences.

“We do not share all of the court's statements, in particular that Mr Fritsche is only accused of aiding and abetting and not of complicity.

“You can assume that we will exhaust all legal remedies available to us.”

The Schumacher family has kept details of the seven-time champion's health behind closed doors since his skiing accident in 2013.

Schumacher's wife Corinna gave a rare insight into Schumacher's condition in a 2021 interview, stating: “Everybody misses Michael, but Michael is here. Different, but he’s here, and that gives us strength, I find.”

It is not the first time the Schumacher family have been involved in a legal battle as last year, German magazine Die Aktuelle paid €200,000 in compensation after publishing an “interview” with Schumacher, which was really an AI-generated conversation.