German prosecutors are charging three men arrested this year with an alleged extortion plot targeting the family of Formula 1 legend Michael Schumacher.
Authorities said the main suspect, a 53-year-old man from Wuppertal in the west, threatened to release private photos and videos and demanded 15 million euros (£12.5 million) from Schumacher’s family.
These allegedly included images of the seven-time F1 champion before and after he sustained serious brain injuries in a skiing accident in the French Alps in 2013.
Schumacher, 55, has not been seen in public since.
The image is believed to be of another 53-year-old from the western town of Würfrath, who worked as a security guard for the Schumacher family until 2021.
He is suspected of selling the material for a “five-figure” sum and could face a “substantial” prison term on charges of being an accomplice to attempted extortion and invasion of privacy.
According to prosecutors, the main suspect made several phone calls to employees of the Schumacher family in June of this year, demanding money.
He allegedly threatened to leak the images on the so-called darknet unless he paid money.
The main suspect faces up to 15 years in prison for attempted extortion, but prosecutors say the sentence could be reduced because the threat was not carried out.
The 30-year-old son of a Wuppertal man has been charged with being an accomplice to extortion after his father asked him to create an untraceable email address.
Prosecutors say this was used to send samples of blackmail material to the Schumacher family.
The family notified Swiss authorities, and Schumacher has been cared for at his parents’ home since the accident.
Swiss investigators uncovered a conspiracy that traced family phone numbers to Germany.