Michael Schumacher's former bodyguard accused of blackmailing ...

A court has heard that Markus Fritsche, 53, a former bodyguard of Formula 1 legend Michael Schumacher, was allegedly involved in a scheme to blackmail the racing icon for €15 million. Fritsche, who was dismissed by the Schumacher family in 2021, reportedly obtained 1,500 photos, 200 videos, and confidential medical information about the retired driver.

The court was also told that a nurse who cared for Schumacher following his 2013 skiing accident in the French Alps may have been the source of the sensitive data. One of Fritsche's co-defendants suggested that the nurse provided the material.

Schumacher, 55, has remained out of the public eye since the life-altering accident. Before the trial began, his family submitted a motion requesting that details of his injuries remain undisclosed.

Johnny Herbert and Michael Schumacher in 1995. Pic: Getty Images

Accused with Fritsche is nightclub bouncer Yilmaz Tozturkan, 53, and his IT-expert son Daniel Lins, 30. All could face jail. Yesterday Schumacher’s manager Sabine Kehm, 60, who has worked for the Schumachers for more than 25 years, was the first witness to testify about the bombshell blackmail plot that had been hatched against the family of Formula 1 racing’s seven-time world champion.

As Ms Kehm told the court in Wuppertal, near Dusseldorf: ‘I got a call, and it was a number we didn’t recognise, so at first we didn’t answer – as we don’t usually, to unrecognised numbers. ‘But it kept calling and calling so in the end I answered.’ On the other end of the phone was ‘a man who said he had pictures of Michael – he said that if the family didn’t want them published on the dark web, then he could help. ‘He said he was a go-between, and we would have to pay 15 million euro; he said the money was for the pictures and for his go-between service.’

Former Formula One World Champion German Michael Schumacher (r) and His Wife Corinna Joke 21 July 2007 Germany

Ms Kehm told the court that when shown the photos, ‘I recognised them as private photos and when I saw them I thought they could have only come from an employee of ours. ‘I was sure it had to be someone from our internal circle that worked for us, I was suspicious from the first moment that it was someone who no longer worked for us.’

Ms Kehm said a nurse who had been involved with Schumacher’s care ‘appeared to get on very well with Fritsche.’ She added: ‘I remember that I used to see Fritsche and this particular nurse standing together and talking. ‘But eventually she left; we had issues with her, we had problems with how care was delivered.’

Corinna and Michael Schumacher in 1999. Pic: FocKan/WireImage

Earlier Tozturkan, who works at a nightclub in Konstanz on the German-Swiss border, told the court he was given the material – 1,500 images, 200 videos and confidential medical details – by Fritsche after meeting in a café. He said he understood it had been passed to Fritsche ‘by a nurse’ and the pictures showed Schumacher in ‘poor health’.

They are said to have demanded the money after ex-security guard Fritsche was dismissed from his job at the driver’s Swiss home in 2021 but not before taking hundreds of private family pictures with him. The material arrived, via a secure email address co-conspirator Lins had set up in June this year, to Schumacher’s office at his family home in Gland, Switzerland; police were alerted and the trio arrested two weeks later. The case continues.