DPA
Dusseldorf
The trial of a former security guard and two others charged with attempting to blackmail the family of former Formula One driver Michael Schumacher is scheduled to start on December 10, a court in the western city of Wuppertal announced on Tuesday.
Charges laid by the state prosecutor had been passed without alteration, the court said. They allege that the security guard had been employed to guard the Swiss home of Schumacher, who suffered an accident while skiing in December 2013 and has not appeared in public since then.
"He is alleged to have come into the possession of numerous photographic and video files on which Michael Schumacher is alleged to have been visible,” the court said.
According to earlier information, the guard was also entrusted with digitizing private photos. He was identified as a 53-year-old man from Wulfrath near Wuppertal.
Another man, also 53, is alleged to have carried out the attempted blackmail along with his 30-year-old son. They are alleged to have demanded €15 million ($16.4 million), or the images would have been published on the darknet.
The data carriers are reported to be two hard drives and four USB sticks with material taken before and after Schumacher’s skiing accident.
The suspects are alleged to have made a number of phone calls aimed at blackmailing the family. When an employee requested a sample as proof, it was sent from an untraceable email address.
Swiss police managed to track the phone number of the caller to the city of Kassel. The third accused is alleged to have helped the suspected blackmailer to set up the email address.
The men were arrested before any money was handed over. According to the prosecutor, 900 photos and 583 video files have been seized. One of the accused remains in custody, while the other two have been released conditionally.
This is not the first attempt to blackmail the family of the former racing driver.
In 2017, a court in the south-western German state of Baden-Wurttemberg sentenced a 25-year-old man for trying to blackmail Schumacher’s wife Corinna Schumacher for €900,000.
The man had threatened that non-payment would result in harm to the couple’s children. He later received a suspended 21-month jail sentence.