New Delhi: Three men have been found guilty of attempting to blackmail iconic Formula 1 racer Michael Schumacher’s family in Germany. The convicts demanded 15 million Euros (USD 15.6 million) from the family to abstain from releasing the family’s private photos and videos along with the digitised copies of Schumacher’s medical records.
According to the news agency DPA, a district court in Wuppertal, western Germany, gave the main defendant a three-year-long jail time, while his son received a six-month suspended sentence and a fine of 1,200 Euros. The main convict had previous convictions.
The third defendant was a former security guard for the Schumacher family. He received a two-year suspended sentence and a fine of 2,400 Euros for aiding and abetting the father-son duo.
According to Judge Birgit Neubert, the ex-security guard was the main contributor to the crime through his breach of trust.
The family has kept Schumacher’s life private since his serious skiing accident in December 2013. The seven-time F1 champion met with a horrible accident while skiing in the French Alps at Meribel after falling and hitting his head on a rock, resulting in a near-fatal brain injury.
Since being shifted from the hospital in September 2014, the Formula One icon has been kept away from the public view at a family home in Switzerland.
Blackmail on darknet
The Schumacher family was blackmailed on the darknet. According to the office of the public prosecutor, approximately 900 pictures and nearly 600 videos of the family and Schumacher’s digitised medical records were confiscated from the perpetrators but a hard drive is still missing.
Schumacher family’s lawyer Thilo Damm revealed that the family will appeal for a bigger sentence (four-year) for the former security guard.
While the father-son duo confessed to the charges, the security guard’s lawyer denied the charges. He has demanded an acquittal by pleading his client’s innocence.
Schumacher called it quits in 2012 after winning 91 F1 races, and five straight titles with Ferrari from 2000-04. The German racer’s other two titles came with F1 team Benetton in 1994-95.
Three men were convicted in Germany for attempting to blackmail Michael Schumacher’s family. They demanded €15 million for unreleased photos, videos, and digitized medical records. The main defendant received a three-year sentence, while his son and a former Schumacher family security guard received suspended sentences and fines. The family plans to appeal for a harsher sentence for the security guard. Other Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
