adminPARIS – Police have opened a criminal probe into the alleged theft of medical records relating to Michael Schumacher’s treatment.
Grenoble prosecutor Jean-Yves Coquillat said the investigation was launched on June 20 (2014) following a complaint from the hospital where Schumacher was treated for months after the December crash.
Coquillat said: “For now nothing is certain in this case. The perpetrator or perpetrators of the theft contacted some French, Swiss and German journalists.
“An individual, communicating by email, is asking for 60,000 Swiss francs (R704,000) to provide a document of several dozen pages that summarises everything that happened at Grenoble during Michael Schumacher’s hospitalisation.”
He said parts of the document were provided by email to prove it was legitimate.
A source close to the investigation said the document appeared to be a summary written by Schumacher’s doctor for his transfer to Switzerland this month after emerging from a coma.
Police were tracing who had access to the document and the hospital was checking its computer system to see if it may have been hacked, sources said.
The ex-Formula 1 star’s management said on Monday that the documents had been stolen and were being offered for sale.
His spokesperson Sabine Kehm warned that the documents were confidential and promised to file suit against any publication that releases the medical records.
Schumacher had been treated since December 29, 2013 in the French Alpine city of Grenoble after he slammed his head against a rock while skiing with his son and friends.
The racing star underwent two operations to remove life-threatening blood clots after the freak accident that shocked the world, before being plunged into a medically induced coma.
The 45-year-old is undergoing further treatment at a hospital in the Swiss city of Lausanne. — Sapa.
Online Reporter