Millions demanded

Schumacher blackmail: private photos found

Formula 1 legend Michael Schumacher(Bild: AFP/APA/OLIVER LANG)

The family of former racing driver Michael Schumacher has been blackmailed with photos from the family's private life. This was the result of the first evaluation of the data records found on the suspects, as the public prosecutor's office in Wuppertal explained on Wednesday. This is a "first interim result". The investigation is still ongoing.

The public prosecutor's office did not wish to provide any further details for reasons of investigative tactics. Information about the suspects, such as their previous convictions, is also not possible due to their personal rights. Two men are alleged to have tried to extort millions from the family of the former Formula 1 racing driver. The suspects, who are said to be father and son, were arrested by the Hessian police on June 19 in a supermarket parking lot in Groß-Gerau.

Arrest warrants had previously been issued by the Wuppertal district court. They are now in custody. According to unconfirmed information from the "Südkurier" newspaper, the older man is said to be a bouncer who worked for years in a discotheque in Constance.

Threatened with publication
According to the public prosecutor's office, the suspects told employees of the family that they had files that the family would be interested in not publishing. They therefore threatened to publish them on the darknet.

To avert this, they demanded a payment of millions from the family. The two men, aged 30 and 53, also sent individual files to the family in order to prove that they owned the files.

Little information about state of health 
Seven-time Formula 1 world champion Schumacher has lived in complete seclusion since an accident while skiing at the end of 2013. Little is known about the 55-year-old's state of health following the serious brain injuries he suffered at the time. His family does not wish to comment on the matter, citing privacy reasons.