Three charged in Michael Schumacher blackmail case

German prosecutors have filed charges against three men alleged to be involved in a blackmail plot against the family of seven-time F1 champion Michael Schumacher. 

The ring-leader of the plot against Schumacher is a 53-year-old man from Wuppertal, a city in the west of Germany, just north of Schumacher's home town of Kerpen, near Cologne. 

It is claimed that he threatened to release private videos and photos of Schumacher unless he was paid €15 million. 

Another suspect was responsible for sourcing the images of Schumacher, which allegedly included some of the former Ferrari and Mercedes racer both before and after the 2013 skiing accident in which he received life-changing injuries. 

This suspect is believed to have worked as a security guard for the Schumacher family until 2021, and is a 53-year-old male from Wuelfrath, a small town just to the north of Wuppertal. 

It is claimed that he sold the material for what prosecutors call a "five-figure sum" after which the chief suspect contacted the Schumacher family in June 2024 to demand payment or the release of the images on the dark web. 

The third suspect is the 30-year-old son of the Wuppertal suspect, who is charged with being an accomplice after creating an untraceable email address to which samples of the material were sent to the Schumacher family, who promptly alerted authorities.

Lengthy jail sentences are possible for the three suspects.

Schumacher has not been seen in public since the December 2013 accident which occurred when he fell and hit his head on a rock whilst skiing off-piste.

The 91-time grand prix winner was placed into an induced coma and awoke in 2014, with his family treating his recovery as private with few updates since.