High-stakes Michael Schumacher blackmail trial explodes

The bombshell court case into a Michael Schumacher blackmail plot has exploded in court with a lawyer blowing up over one interview.

This is the shocking moment the son of one of Michael Schumacher’s alleged blackmailers is dragged away by an outraged lawyer after giving a blundering interview.

Footage shows the son of accused Yilmaz T, 53, clumsily call the alleged extortion plot a “sales pitch” before being pulled and shoved down a hallway, The Sun reports.

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Former security guard Markus F allegedly wanted “revenge” after he was let go by Schumacher’s wife Corinna earlier this year from his role.

He took with him 1,500 images, 200 videos as well as extensive medical notes of the Formula 1 driver who hasn’t been seen since suffering a life-changing ski crash in 2013.

Markus is accused of stealing the information and then recruiting long-term pal and local bouncer Yilmaz T, say German authorities.

Yilmaz then allegedly used his son Daniel L to help him make contact with the Schumacher family before trying to extort them.

German police have been leading investigations with the three suspects appearing at Wuppertal District Court near Dortmund this week.

Michael Schumacher blackmail trial explodes.

Yilmaz - who had known Markus for over 20 years - was allegedly promised a small commission in return for his help.

During an interview outside the courtroom, Yilmaz’s youngest son and the brother of Daniel, named in German media as Noah L, was dragged away by Daniel’s lawyer.

Noah was in the midst of saying various clumsy remarks on the case, telling the German broadcaster Welt: “Blackmail is when I threaten someone with violence.

“But if I go to you now and say, ‘I have something here, do you want to buy it,’ that is not blackmail.

“In my opinion it was a sales pitch - agreed with lawyers and contracts.

“In my opinion it was not blackmail.”

Just as he was attempting to wrap up his blundering rant, he added that the pre-trial detention of his father was “a bit excessive” before Daniel’s lawyer Hartmut Moyzio drags Noah out of frame.

The outraged lawyer is then captured pulling and pushing the son down a hallway as cameras continue to follow them.

Moments before he was dragged away.

The lawyer was not happy.

The unbelievable interview came as a member of the Schumacher staff took to the stand, telling the court she has seen emails between Markus and the family revealing he wanted cash in return for the intimate photos staying private.

Heike P claimed the men had images of Michael in his wheelchair and threatened to post them on the dark web.

“Emails were written in which he said if he didn’t get his pay he would go after the Schumacher family,” she told the court.

The staff member for the Schumachers also said she couldn’t remember the amount of money asked for in the messages.

She did believe it was less than three months worth of wages the former security guard would have been on at the time.

Markus has refused to say a word in court so far other than to confirm his name and address.

The intimate images are said to be a part of a 1,500 cache of secret files believed to have been stolen from the Schumacher family home.

Schumacher hasn’t been seen since the accident. (Photo by Getty Images)

This sensitive material was uploaded onto four USB sticks and two hard drives in the days prior to Markus being let go, prosecutors say.

The content included photos, videos, medication lists and even Schumacher’s patient file, BILD reported back in July.

German police quickly managed to thwart the plot soon after contact was first made with the Schumacher family.

When the men were first hauled into court Markus’ lawyer claimed he had been asked by Corinna to digitalise copies of photos taken of her husband.

This included the intimate images.

However, a shocking revelation reportedly now claims that one of the hard drives which may still hold data on the F1 legend has gone missing.

Authorities said they were able to track down the alleged extortionists through “technical measures”.

On July 4, officers arrested Markus in his apartment in Wülfrath.

They also detained Yilmaz and his son Daniel L soon after for their roles in the alleged blackmail plot.

All three men were charged and are now in court for the hearing.

Intimate images of Schumacher were apparently on the USB’s. AFP PHOTO

One of the hard drives is reportedly still missing.

Prosecutors are asking for the men to spend at least four years behind bars if found guilty.

Speaking for the first time at Wuppertal District Court, Yilmaz T said he had done nothing wrong and that it was all to help out a poor nurse.

His son Daniel has accepted his role in the affair but is claiming he had no knowledge of the content being sent as part of the plot.

The 30-year-old is being charged for having supplied his father with an untraceable Gmail address.

He is also accused of forwarding the illicit pictures on his dad’s behalf.

Daniel said: “I didn’t see the content. My dad just said that it was a legal, normal affair, whereby there was a layer involved, and that was it for me, so I didn’t ask any more questions.

“I didn’t think there was anything bad about it. He said he had photos of a person and wanted to sell them.

“I didn’t ask my father what it was all about. Its my father. So I just thought, yeah, okay, and that was it.”

Schumacher’s wife Corinna, 55, has already filed a motion to protect her husband during the trial.

She is asking to exclude the public from the trial if the seven-time world champion’s current state of health is ever discussed.

Corinna has spent over a decade crafting a close knit inner circle of people who are allowed to know about Michael’s health ever since his horrific ski accident.

The F1 star hasn’t been seen or heard from since after with very little being released about his current status.

This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission.

Originally published as High-stakes Michael Schumacher blackmail trial explodes