In September 2024, the Wuppertal Public Prosecutor’s Office brought criminal charges against three men who blackmailed Michael Schumacher’s family after his 2013 skiing accident, demanding millions of dollars to prevent the F1 legend’s highly personal medical photos from being leaked on the dark web. .

Among those arrested is one of Schumacher’s former bodyguards, Markus Fritsche, who after the crash was trusted by the top driver’s wife and brought into the family’s inner circle to help care for her now severely disabled husband. her.

For 8 years, Corina Schumacher completely trusted the 53-year-old Fitzgerald and had given him free access to Michael’s care process. But when the family decided to make changes to their care regime and told Fritsche they no longer needed him, he set up an extortion ring.

According to prosecutors in Germany, Fritsche recruited his longtime friend Yilmaz Tozturkan and his IT expert son to blackmail the family.

The 53-year-old former bodyguard was now seeking the staggering sum of nearly $13 million to keep some 1,500 images, 200 videos and extensive personal medical notes about Schumacher from being published online.

According to the Daily Mail, most of this highly sensitive material is said to be contained on four USB sticks and two hard drives, which Fitch is said to have removed from the Schumacher mansion once he realized he would be asked to leave.

Details of how Fitch, along with his 53-year-old friend and son, blackmailed the Schumacher family will be heard next month when their trial begins in Wuppertal.