A woman under investigation for her part in a £12million plot to blackmail F1 legend Michael Schumacher stole compromising material on him after she was ‘raped’ on his estate, it has been claimed.
The explosive claim was made by a lawyer defending one of three men on trial for trying to extort money from the former seven times F1 champion, who has not been seen in public since a 2013 ski accident.
Schumacher’s former bodyguard Markus Fritsche is currently being prosecuted with two alleged accomplices for allegedly stealing compromising material of his boss in private situations such as medical appointments and then using it to blackmail him.
The rape claim was made by Fritsche’s lawyer who stunned the court when he made his shock allegation that an unidentified ‘acquaintance’ of the famous driver’s son Mick had raped a nurse on his estate.
Lawyer Harald Benninghoven suggested that the woman was raped on the estate at a party five years ago – and therefore had a ‘motive’ for revenge against the Schumacher family because she felt the rape had not been taken seriously.
The rape claim was put by Mr Benninghoven when he was cross examining a witness in the blackmail case, Schumacher’s long time manager Sabine Kehm.
Prompting loud gasps of shock around the courtroom, he asked Ms Kehm: ‘What do you know of a rape, said to have been carried out on a nurse at the Schumacher property in 2019?’
He went on: ‘That is the subject of a separate investigation by the Swiss authorities, but it would be a motive.’
It’s understood he meant it would be a motive for the complainant in the rape case to have taken the material that his client is alleged to have stolen.
Ms Kehm replied to his bombshell question: ’I know nothing about this, and it doesn’t involve the Schumacher family. You’ve made sure everyone knows now but we had nothing to do with that.’
Outside court Mr Benninghoven was asked by reporters to expand on his claims, and he told MailOnline: ’The nurse was summoned to testify at an earlier hearing.
‘A letter came back from her lawyer saying that she was sick and would not be able to attend.
‘The letter also made reference to this sexual assault case on the Schumacher premises, said to have taken place during a party, which is currently the subject of an investigation, and it involved an acquaintance of Michael Schumacher’s son.’
That son Mick Schumacher, 25, is also a racing driver, and last year was under contract with Mercedes but there is no suggestion he was involved in the alleged attack on the nurse which is said to have taken place at a party in 2019.
No further clue as to the identity of the rapist was given.
And the family tried to play down its significance in relation to the blackmail case.
Thilo Damm, the Schumacher family lawyer, told MailOnline: ‘This claim is totally separate to the blackmail case, and we are not involved at all, and when I say we, I mean the whole family from Michael to Corinna to Mick Junior.
‘We don’t know what stage the investigation is at because we are not a part of it.
‘I think this was an attempt by the lawyer to shift focus away from his client.’
That client, former trusted bodyguard Markus Fritsche, is on trial with father and son Yilmaz Tozturkan and Daniel Lins.
The case is being heard in Wuppertal, Germany.
Although the rape allegation emerged for the first time this week, the nurse alleged to have been raped has been mentioned several times during the trial as a possible alternative culprit.
Last month, Ms Kehm and Fritsche’s lawyer claimed the nurse – who was sacked by the race ace’s family in October 2020 – was involved in the blackmail sting.
The blackmail case centres on hard drives stolen from Schumacher’s home in the Swiss town of Gland containing images and videos of the stricken star and confidential medical data.
In June this year the Schumacher family were contacted and told in a series of calls and emails the material would be ‘released onto the dark web’ unless a £12 million ransom was paid.
Nightclub bouncer Tozturkan, 53, told the court the data had been ‘passed’ to him ‘by a nurse who was in need of money’ while Ms Kehm told the court how Fritsche and her ‘got on very well’.
Ms Kehm added: ’I remember I used to see Fritsche and this particular nurse standing together, talking, they got on very well.
‘But eventually she left, we had issues with her, we had problems with how care was delivered. We saw some unpleasant things. First, she left, then he (Fritsche) left.’
Ms Kehm later went on to say she ‘suspected’ the nurse of downloading information from a computer used in the alleged blackmail as she ‘had access to the codes and passwords’.
The nurse, a 38-year-old French citizen, has not been charged with any offence but authorities in Switzerland – where the Schumacher family live – are said to be investigating whether she had any direct involvement.
Her LinkedIn page, which has now been deleted, showed the mother of one speaks four languages – French, English, Arabic and German and she is a specialist in ‘VIP care’ and ‘neuro rehabilitation’.
IT expert Lins, 30 and Fritsche, 53, all deny blackmail insisting they were attempting to hand back the 1500 images, 200 videos and medical notes as part of a ‘business transaction’ and nothing else.
Fritsche worked for the Schumacher family for nine years until he was sacked in 2021 and was working as a security guard at a Mercedes Benz factory when he was arrested last summer.
Tozturkan is currently in custody, while his son is on bail, and both men are like Fritsche, all from Wuppertal.
Schumacher has not been seen in public since his skiing accident in the French Alps in 2013 and has been left with catastrophic brain injuries.
During a glittering 19-year F1 career from 1991 until 2012, Schumacher raced for Ferrari, Mercedes and Benetton, amassing a £468 million fortune, along with his seven titles and taking he chequered flag 91 times.
Prosecutors have demanded at least four years for all three and the judge Birgit Neubert has adjourned the trail, until next month when it is expected to end.
