A missing hard drive from the blackmail attempt on Michael Schumacher and his family means that private photos could still be circulating the internet, prosecutors have said.
Schumacher’s family and the three men that attempted to blackmail them with stolen private records from their Lake Geneva residence will return to the German courts to appeal their sentences and the punishments handed down.
Two hard drives and four USBs were smuggled out of the house that contained over 900 photos, 600 videos and medical records with suppressed information of the Formula 1 icon’s health after his tragic 2013 skiing accident.
READ MORE: McIlroy falls short in drama-filled playoff thriller
READ MORE: ‘Bad idea’: UFC boss weighs in on $282m super fight
READ MORE: ‘That’s the goal’: Likely debutant out to silence Ashes noise
Michael Schumacher and his family have lived in complete privacy since the 2013 accident. Â Getty
Police were able to obtain all information except one hard drive, which is yet to be discovered.
The Sun now reports that prosecutors do not know whether the missing drive was destroyed, sold or hidden and cannot confirm whether anyone else holds copies of the stolen images.
Former security for the family, Markus Fritsche, was named as the person who smuggled the data out of the house and into the hands of bouncer Yilmaz Tozturkan and his son.
Tozturkan then threatened the family with releasing everything on the dark web unless they paid a ransom of €15 million (AUD $26m).
Fritsche was given a two-year suspended sentence, which the Schumacher’s slammed as “disgracefully lenient” and argued for a harsher four-year custodial sentence.
“We have appealed against what we consider to be the far too lenient sentence for Mr F,” wife Corinna Schumacher said.
“In my opinion, he was the mastermind behind this.
Corinna Schumacher and her family will return to the German courts. Â Bongarts/Getty Images
“What still shocks me most is the massive breach of trust. He should receive a punishment that deters any potential copycats.”
The family’s lawyer Sven Schnitzer said the Schumachers will not accept anything that fails to acknowledge the scale of the betrayal.
The outcome of this appeal from Fritsche and Tozturkan, the latter also appealing his three-year jail sentence, will either see them walk free or face the harsher sentences the Schumacher family is pushing for.
But Tozturkan has refused to give any fresh testimony during the retrial, meaning his silence is unlikely to uncover new information about the conspiracy or the missing data on the hard drive.
The appeal hearing started on November 16 (AEDT) and is expected to continue until early December, with five sessions scheduled.
The court has confirmed that further witnesses will be heard, including Schumacher’s long-time manager, Sabine Kehm.