Michael Schumacher’s wife, Corrina, has released a statement slamming the “far too lenient” sentence handed out to Markus Fritsche after his blackmail plot
Michael Schumacher’s family have released a rare statement.
Corrina Schumacher has broken her silence and slammed the “far too lenient” sentence handed out to Markus Fritsche following a £12million blackmail plot.
Fritsche was the Schumacher family’s former bodyguard and stood accused of supplying blackmailers with private images of the former F1 driver. He was handed a two-year suspended prison sentence.
Corrina, and the Schumacher family, have now released a statement: “We have appealed against what we consider to be the far too lenient sentence for Mr F.
“In my opinion, he was the mastermind behind this. What still shocks me most is the massive breach of trust. He should receive a punishment that deters any potential copycats.”
Yilmaz Tozturkan, 53, was also arrested after hard drives containing private pictures, medical records, and videos of the Formula One legend were stolen.
Tozturkan and his son Daniel Lins, 30, were accused of demanding £12 million from the Schumacher family.
The pair, who are from Wuppertal in Germany, threatened to release 1,500 confidential files about Schumacher to the dark web if they did not receive any money.
Prosecutors said the former security guard sold the images of Schumacher for “a five-figure sum”.
Tozturkan was then handed an email, from Schumacher’s office, to send the files as proof he had them. Tozturkan’s son then reportedly sent an anonymous email.
Tozturkan was handed a three-year sentence and Lins was handed a six-month suspended sentence after both pleaded guilty at the start of the trial.
“I am very sorry and ashamed,” Tozturkan told the court. “I will take responsibility for what I have done.”
The files are said to include information about Schumacher after his skiing accident in 2013, when he was last seen in public.
Schumacher was in a coma for 250 days, more than eight months, after the accident and he woke up in June 2014, before he was discharged from hospital and sent to his home for further treatment.
Corinna and the Schumacher family have been incredibly secretive about his condition. And only close friends are allowed to visit Schumacher at the family’s home in Gland, Switzerland.
There have been small reports about his health, and he reportedly attended his daughter’s wedding last summer.