The trial of three men accused of being part of a £12 million plot to blackmail the family of F1 racing legend Michael Schumacher begins today.
The famous racing driver’s trusted bodyguard is accused of masterminding an extortion bid which hinged on intimate private material which he had removed from Schumacher’s mansion then threatened to leak.
Bodyguard Markus Fritsche, 53, appears in court today alongside his two alleged co-conspirators, his friend Yilmaz Tozturkan, also 53, and Tozturkan’s son Daniel Lins, 30.
Investigators say Tozturkan initially contacted an assistant of the Schumacher family in June, at their home in Switzerland by telephone and then email.
They were told that if the family paid the eyewatering sum, 1,500 images, 200 videos and extensive medical notes on Schumacher would ’not be released onto the dark web’.
The court in Wuppertal will hear how the material was taken by Fritsche – a bodyguard who worked with Schumacher for nine years – after he was let go from his job in 2021.
The bulk of this super sensitive data was allegedly contained on four USB sticks and two hard drives which Fritsche is said to have removed from the Schumacher mansion once he realised, he was going to be asked to leave.
Tozturkan, a nightclub bouncer, and Fritsche had known each other for more than 20 years and live close to each other in Wuppertal, where the trial is due to take place.
Seven times world champion Schumacher, 55, pictured with his wife Corinna, has not been seen in public since a 2013 skiing accident left him seriously disabled and in need of 24-hour care
For eight years bodyguard Markus Fritsche was given unique access to the most intimate aspects of the legend’s medical procedures
Fritsche allegedly recruited his long-term friend Yilmaz Tozturkan (pictured) and his IT expert son to extort the staggering sum from the family who had employed him
In September Wuppertal public prosecutor Wolf-Tilman Baumert announced the investigation had been completed, three months after the men had initially been arrested following a joint operation by Swiss and German police.
It is understood that on the morning of June 3, Tozturkan allegedly used a withheld number to call and say he was in possession of photos and videos and allegedly threatened to release them onto the dark web.
It is claimed that Tozturkan’s son, Lins – who uses his mother’s maiden name – then sent four images to the Schumacher residence on June 11 and allegedly told the family they had ‘a month’ to come up with 15 million Euros (£12 million) payable in two instalments in exchange for the material.
The exchange was to take place at the office of the Schumacher family lawyer.
A week later on June 19 Tozturkan and his son were arrested by police in Germany after being placed under surveillance, it is believed.
Tozturkan has been charged with extortion, while Lins has been accused of aiding and abetting extortion.
Both father and son worked at the Grey nightclub in the German city of Konstanz, which is close to the Swiss border, and where they both lived although they also had apartments in Wuppertal.
Fritsche – who was working as a security guard at the Mercedes Benz plant in Dusseldorf, at the time of his arrest – worked at Schumacher estate as a close protection officer and aide, also helping the family with IT issues for nine years.
German Formula One driver Michael Schumacher gestures at the end of the Brazil’s F1 GP on November 25, 2012 at the Interlagos racetrack in Sao Paulo, Brazil
Daniel Lins (pictured) is an IT expert and the son Tozturkan. The details of how they carried out the alleged plot will be heard next month
Pictured: The block of flats where Yilmaz Toztuerkan has a flat in the town of Wuppertal in Germany
Pictured the block of flats (in Wuppertal) where Daniel Lins lives. Both father and son worked at the Grey nightclub in the German city of Konstanz, which is close the Swiss border, and where they both lived although they also had apartments in Wuppertal
Pictured: The home of Markus Fritsche in the town of Wuelfrath. Fritsche – who was working as a security guard at the Mercedes Benz plant in Dusseldorf, at the time of his arrest – worked at Schumacher estate as a close protection officer and aide
He began working with the family in March 2012 – just 18 months before F1 legend Schumacher’s ski accident.
During a glittering 19-year career from 1991 to 2012 with Ferrari, Mercedes and Benetton, Schumacher amassed a £468 million fortune, as he won his seven titles, winning 91 races.
Tozturkan is currently in custody while his son and Fritsche, who lives in Wulfrath near Wuppertal, are on bail.
Schumacher has not been seen in public since a horrific 2013 skiing accident, and there is huge interest in the case with queues building up outside the court before dawn.
At this morning’s hearing judge Birgit Neubert will decide if there is enough evidence for the case to proceed and four dates have already been set aside for further hearings with the last in February next year.
Prosecutors are demanding at least four years but because of the amount allegedly demanded if found guilty the men could be given longer terms by a superior judge.
Media from all over the world has applied to cover the case but there are only a limited amount of places as the court is being renovated.
Updates on the health of the Ferrari legend have been few and far between in recent years
Schumacher lives and received treatments in his £50million mansion in Gland, Switzerland
There is also speculation that a member of the Schumacher family may attend the hearing to give evidence, and ten other witnesses have been called including police officers and the assistant who was initially contacted.
Four further hearing dates have been arranged between now and February with a verdict expected early in the New Year.
There was previously a blackmail attempt made on the Schumacher family – in 2017 a 25-year-old man was given a suspended sentence of 21 months for demanding 900,000 Euros from Michael’s wife Corinna.
The man said he would ‘harm’ the couple’s son Mick, but was traced after including his personal bank account.