TWO men have been arrested over a chilling blackmail plot against the stricken family of iconic Formula One driver Michael Schumacher.
German cops claim the pair of alleged criminals planned to extort millions from the Schumacher's as part of the terrible ordeal.
The two men from Wuppertal, Germany were caught on Wednesday and are waiting to be taken into court.
The exact details around the failed extortion attempt are unknown.
Wolf-Tilman Baumert, spokesman for the public prosecutor's office, told BILD: "We are investigating a case of blackmail to the detriment of a celebrity and have executed arrest warrants in this case.
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"We cannot provide any further information at this time."
Michael, who hasn't been seen or heard from for over a decade after a horror ski crash, has been looked after by his close-knit family since the accident.
His inner circle is headed up by wife Corinna who has been targeted by fiends in the past.
In 2016, a 25-year-old man known as Hüseyin B sent a threatening email to Corinna targeting the couple's children.
The mum-of-two quickly passed on the email to the police who swiftly tracked down the painter.
After being arrested, the thug was sent to court where a judge sentenced him for a year and nine months behind bars.
The perpetrator was reportedly caught after he told Corinna to send him the money to his personal bank account - something the police easily traced back.
At the hearing, judge Eberhard Hausch said: "To put it gently, putting your own account number there is not very smart."
In May, the Schumacher family were awarded £170,000 in compensation after a magazine published a fake AI-generated interview with the racing legend.
German publication Die Aktuelle claimed to have secured a “world exclusive” with the severely injured Ferrari great last April despite Michael not being seen publicly since his 2013 skiing accident.
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In a two-page spread, promoted with a picture of Schumacher, it claimed the seven-time F1 champ had said “My life has totally changed”.
The sickening bot even spoke about the racing hero's physical condition, family and future recovery prospects.
Another legal battle in 2016 was waged after German magazine Bunte reported the racing legend "could walk".
The court case led to a few small pieces of information being revealed, with Schumacher's lawyers confirming he still couldn't walk.
Corinna also reportedly led the effort to hide a ghoulish photo of the F1 legend that was reportedly snapped and then smuggled out by a "friend" and offered around to news outlets for a whopping £1million.
German prosecutors called the disgusting act a "violation of his personal range of life" and breach of privacy.
Corinna reportedly demanded the cops take action, but the media outlet refused to reveal its source - and also claimed it never saw any of the images of Schumacher.
