German prosecutors introduced prices on Wednesday towards three males for allegedly blackmailing the household of famend former Formula One driver Michael Schumacher.
Schumacher, a record-breaking world champion, suffered extreme accidents in a snowboarding accident in late 2013 and has not been seen in public since. His household has saved particulars of his situation non-public.
According to the general public prosecutor’s workplace in Wuppertal, a former safety worker of the Schumacher household is accused of offering non-public recordings used within the blackmail scheme, whereas one other man and his son are alleged to have carried out the extortion try.
Prosecutors mentioned the alleged perpetrators made a number of calls to the Schumacher household demanding 15 million euros ($17 million). They allegedly threatened to publish delicate non-public knowledge on the web if the cash wasn’t paid.
The materials used for the crime was reportedly obtained by a person who had beforehand labored as a safety service supplier for the Schumacher household and was liable for digitizing non-public photographs.
Authorities seized a lot of potential proof objects, similar to onerous drives, USB sticks and cell telephones, throughout the man’s arrest.
German police launched their investigation after receiving a tip from Swiss regulation enforcement. According to investigators, “technical measures” in the end revealed that the suspected blackmailers have been working from Wuppertal.
This case shouldn’t be the primary time Schumacher’s household has been subjected to an alleged blackmail try. In 2017, a courtroom in southern Germany convicted a 25-year-old man for trying to blackmail Schumacher’s spouse, Corinna Schumacher, for 900,000 euros.
That man had threatened that in any other case one thing would occur to the kids, however he was caught partially as a result of he included his precise checking account data in an e mail to Corinna Schumacher. He obtained a suspended sentence of 21 months.
Source: www.dailysabah.com