Germany: 3 convicted in Michael Schumacher blackmail plot
Timothy Jones with AFP and dpa
February 13, 2025
A court has given a jail sentence to a man who tried to blackmail the family of former racing star Michael Schumacher. Two others were given suspended sentences for their role in the affair.
Michael Schumacher (archive photo) was one of the greats of Formula One car racingImage: Clive Mason/Getty Images
Two of the men — a father and son named only as Yilmaz T. and Daniel L. — were accused of threatening to release private photos and videos of Schumacher on the dark web if they were not paid €15 million ($15.6 million).
The father, 53, received a three-year jail sentence while the son, 30, was handed a six-month suspended sentence by the regional court in the western city of Wuppertal on Wednesday.
The third, a former security guard identified only as Markus F. who worked for the family at its Switzerland residence, was sentenced to two years' probation after being accused of selling the images to the two blackmailers for a reported five-figure sum.
Even out of public view, Michael Schumacher's star shines on
As he turns 55 this January 3, Michael Schumacher remains one of the greatest-ever F1 drivers. A decade after a skiing accident changed his life forever, DW looks back on his storied career.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/H. Melchert
Starting out in kart racing
Born just outside of Cologne on January 3, 1969, Michael Schumacher, like many F1 drivers, got his start in karting, earning his kart license at the age of 12. Schumacher would go on to win numerous German and European kart championships before graduating to single-seat car racing in 1987. Here he is seen in 2011 leading his brother Ralf around the family-operated kart center in Kerpen.
Image: picture-alliance/BREUEL-BILD/ABB
F1 debut with Jordan
It may surprise some to learn that Schumacher didn't make his Formula One debut with Benetton, but with Jordan in 1991. However, he only wound up competing in one race for the team founded by Eddie Jordan (above, left), the Belgian Grand Prix. Actually, "competing" is probably overstating things, as clutch problems forced him to retire on the first lap.
Image: picture-alliance/Panimages
Move to Benetton
However, Schumacher would go on to drive in five more F1 races in 1991, after he signed on with Camel Benetton Ford. He earned four points in the drivers' championship in his first year, putting him 14th in the standings for that year.
Image: picture alliance / dpa
First Grand Prix win
A year after he had made his F1 debut at Spa-Francorchamps, this was also the scene of his first GP race win. Here Britain's Nigel Mansell, who would win the drivers' championship in 1992, helps him hold up his trophy at the course Schumacher would later describe as his favorite track. The German driver finished the season in third place in the drivers' championship, on 53 points.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/EPA
A first drivers' title
It would only take two more years for Schumacher to win it all. However, the 1994 season was marred by the deaths of Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger during the San Marino Grand Prix. Here Schumacher is seen in Adelaide, Australia celebrating his first drivers' title with his Benetton team. He would go on to successfully defend his drivers' championship with Benetton in 1995.
Image: picture-alliance/Panimages
On to Ferrari
In 1996, Michael Schumacher signed on with Ferrari, where he would enjoy his most successful years in Formula 1, winning five consecutive drivers' titles from 2000 to 2004. Here he is seen celebrating his first win for his new team, at the 1996 Spanish Grand Prix.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/H. Melchert
No angel
Schumacher occasionally stepped out of line on the track. In the last race of 1997, he turned into Jacques Villeneuve's car as the Canadian attempted to overtake him. Damage resulting from the crash forced Schumacher to retire but the four points Villeneuve earned for finishing third gave him the drivers' title. The FIA subsequently disqualified Schumacher for the entire 1997 season.
Image: picture-alliance/ASA/LAT Photographic
A final bow
Schumacher won the 91st race of his Formula One career in Shanghai on October 1, 2006. It would turn out to be the last win of his F1 career. Schumacher retired from racing at the end of the season, in which he finished second in the drivers' standings. In 2007 he accepted an advisory role with Ferrari.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/G. Breloer
Always testing his limits
During his time out of F1, Schumacher took up motorcycle racing and in early 2009 he had an accident while testing his Honda 1000 CBR-Fireblade on a track in Cartagena, Spain. He damaged a vertebra, a rib, and the bottom of his skull, while also suffering a torn artery in his brain. This forced him to call off a planned 2009 comeback, when he would have replaced the injured Felipe Massa.
Image: Getty Images
Comeback and permanent retirement
In 2010, Schumacher returned to the F1 circuit with Mercedes, enjoying limited success. However, at the 2012 European Grand Prix in Valencia, Schumacher finished third. At the age of 43 years and 173 days he became the oldest driver to reach the podium since Jack Brabham finished second in the 1970 British Grand Prix. Schumacher would retire (again) after the 2012 season.
Image: Getty Images/C. Mason
Ski accident
On December 29, 2013, Schumacher lost control while skiing off-piste in the French Alps, hitting his head on a rock. Despite wearing a helmet he sustained a serious head injury. He underwent surgery and was placed in an induced coma. In June 2014, his management announced that he was no longer in a coma. Since the accident, his wife Corinna and his manager have shielded him from public view.
Image: Getty Images
Legacy
When he stepped out of the cockpit, Michael Schumacher was indisputably the greatest F1 driver of all time, with a record 91 Grand Prix wins and seven drivers' championship titles. While Lewis Hamilton has bettered his number of races won (103) and equaled his drivers' championships record, Schumacher remains the greatest of his era and will be remembered as one of the best ever.
Image: picture-alliance/Sven Simon/E. Kremser
A third Schumacher in F1
Michael Schumacher is not the only member of the family to have competed in Formula One – his younger brother Ralf drove for Jordan, Williams and Toyota between 1997 and 2007, winning six races. Still just 24, Michael's son Mick (pictured above) has followed in his father's footsteps, competing in F1 in 2021 and 2022. He is currently a reserve driver for the Mercedes F1 team.
Image: Memmler/Eibner-Pressefoto/picture alliance
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Hundreds of pictures and videos
The material collected by the blackmailers included 900 pictures and almost 600 videos of Schumacher and his family, as well as the racing legend's digitized medical records, the public prosecutor's office said.
Recordings of the calls made to the family in which the pair demanded money were played in the courtroom
The father, who worked as a nightclub bouncer in the southern German town of Constance, expressed regret for his crime during the trial, which began in December.
"It's a very, very disgusting thing that I did. I realized that on the second day in prison. I will answer for it," he said.
The third defendant denied the accusations against him through his lawyer.
His family has maintained silence about his state of health since his 2013 accident.
Editor's note: DW follows the German press code, which stresses the importance of protecting the privacy of suspected criminals or victims and obliges us to refrain from revealing full names in such cases.
