Criminals are said to have tried to blackmail the family of former Formula 1 world champion Michael Schumacher. This was announced by the Wuppertal Public Prosecutor’s Office, which is investigating the case. The perpetrators claimed to employees of the family that they had files that the family would not want to publish, a spokesperson for the Wuppertal Public Prosecutor’s Office said on Monday.
They demanded a payment in the millions or they would publish the data on the dark web. The perpetrators sent some files to the family as evidence.
Two Germans under suspicion
Through “technical measures” it could be established that the suspected extortionists acted from Wuppertal. Two 53 and 30 year old men from Wuppertal were arrested as suspects: father and son. Both are currently on probation in a separate case. The two main suspects were arrested on June 19 in the parking lot of a supermarket in Groß-Gerau in Hesse and are currently in custody.
Late last week, investigators announced that arrests had been made in connection with an extortion case “against a celebrity.” However, the researchers initially did not mention the celebrity. The ‘Bild’ first reported on an attempted blackmail of the Schumacher family.
Not the first attempt at blackmail
The Formula 1 record world champion was seriously injured in a skiing accident at the end of 2013. He has not appeared in public since. In 2017, the Reutlingen court in Baden-Württemberg convicted a then 25-year-old who had tried to blackmail Schumacher’s wife. He was then given a suspended sentence.
Source: Krone
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