German prosecutors said on Monday the family of stricken Formula One legend Michael Schumacher was the victim of attempted blackmail and that two men had been arrested.
A spokesman for the public prosecutor's office in the western city of Wuppertal said the perpetrators had claimed to employees of the family that they were in possession of files that the family would not want to be made public.
They demanded a payment in the millions of euros to keep the information secret, otherwise they would publish it on the dark net.
The perpetrators had sent some files to the family as proof, the spokesman said. The family declined to respond to a request for comment.
Using "technical measures," it was possible to determine that the suspected blackmailers had acted from Wuppertal.
A father and son from Wuppertal, aged 53 and 30, were arrested on June 19 in a supermarket. They were both on probation in connection with a separate case, the authorities said.
They remain in custody as investigations proceed. "They face a fine or prison sentence of up to five years if convicted," the senior state prosecutor in charge of the case said.
Eight premises were searched in the course of the investigation, including residences, second residences and places of work, as well as rooms occupied by other people. Data storage devices were seized.
The German authorities acted after a tip-off from Switzerland.
More than 10 years after a skiing accident, very little is known about the health of seven-time F1 world champion Schumacher.
The German suffered serious head injuries in the incident in the French Alps on December 29, 2013 and has not been seen in public since. The family has vigorously defended his privacy.
Investigators revealed at the end of last week that they were investigating a blackmail case involving a well-known figure, but did not reveal who.
This is not the first case of its kind. In 2017, a 25-year-old man was convicted of trying to blackmail Schumacher's wife.