Michael Schumacher’s lawyer confirms appeal over prison sentence for doorman who tried to extort $15 million

A German court has handed a three-year prison sentence to nightclub doorman Yilmaz Tozturkan for plotting to extort £12 million from Formula One great Michael Schumacher by threatening to leak stolen medical data and family photos.



How the Conspiracy Unfolded



Prosecutors told Wuppertal district court that Schumacher’s long-time bodyguard, Markus Fritsche, copied more than 1,500 private images, videos and medical files from a household computer dating back to the racer’s devastating 2013 ski crash.



Fritsche, 53, passed the hard drives to Tozturkan, who recruited his IT-specialist son, Daniel Lins, to extract the files.



The court heard that Tozturkan emailed samples of the material to Schumacher’s relatives and warned it would be “uploaded to the dark web” unless the family transferred millions into an offshore account.







Sentences Spark Debate



Judge Astrid Klemm described the blackmail attempt as “calculated and callous” before sentencing Tozturkan.



Fritsche received a two-year suspended term for his role, while Lins was handed a six-month suspended sentence after cooperating with investigators.



Outside the courtroom, Schumacher family lawyer Thilo Damm branded the punishments “lenient” and confirmed an appeal is being prepared.



Missing Hard Drive Fuels Ongoing Fears



During proceedings, police admitted they have not located one of the hard drives believed to contain sensitive footage.



“We don’t know where the missing hard drive is … so there is the possibility of another threat through the back door,” Damm warned, adding that the family would “exhaust all legal possibilities” to protect Schumacher’s privacy.



Remorse and Denial in Equal Measure



Before the verdict, Tozturkan told the court, “I’m very sorry and ashamed for what I have done. It was a very disgusting thing. I take full responsibility.”



Yet he also insisted he had merely proposed a “business deal,” denying outright that his emails amounted to blackmail.



A Legend Shielded From Public View



Schumacher, now 56, has not appeared in public since suffering severe head trauma while skiing in the French Alps.



He spent six months in an induced coma and has continued rehabilitation at home, with the family zealously guarding all medical details.



Tracing the Plot



Swiss investigators first traced the extortion emails to a prepaid German number, triggering raids in Wuppertal and Düsseldorf last September.



Police seized computers, servers and phones but acknowledged that key items may have been hidden or destroyed.



Wider Implications for Athlete Privacy



The case has revived debate over privacy protections for injured sports stars and the potential black-market value of confidential medical data.



Legal experts say the verdict sends a message but note that suspended terms for two conspirators may encourage copycat schemes unless enforcement is tightened.



Next Steps



Prosecutors confirmed they might appeal Lins’s sentence, arguing his tech skills were “essential” to the conspiracy.



Meanwhile, Tozturkan begins his prison term as detectives continue to hunt for the missing drive and any accomplices still at large.
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