A £6 MILLION sex-and-blackmail plot involving the richest woman in Germany has been smashed by Italian police.
Susanne Klatten, 48, who is the 40th richest person in the world with a fortune equivalent to £4 billion, was targeted by her lover, Helg Sgarbi, and his accomplice, Ernano Barretta.
They threatened to send DVDs showing the married mother of thr
ee having sex with Mr Sgarbi, 41, to newspapers all over the world.
The heiress finally went to the police after handing over more than £5 million in blackmail money.
A joint Italian-German police operation saw telephone calls between all three intercepted and listening devices planted in Mr Barretta's home at Pescosansonesco, near Pescara on Italy's Adriatic Coast.
Mr Barretta, a hotel owner, is also the self-styled head of a religious sect and police believe that other rich women may have been targeted by the pair.
Mrs Klatten's fortune comes from her late father, Herbert Quandt, and includes 50.1 per cent of pharmaceutical giant Altana and a 12.5 per cent stake in car giant BMW.
During the Second World War, the Quandt family worked closely with Hitler, which Mr Sgarbi and Mr Barretta claimed was the motive for the blackmail.
Police in Pescara said Mrs Klatten had met Mr Sgarbi in 2006 and the two had begun a secret affair and they would meet in Monte Carlo for sex.
However, each time they met Mr Barretta filmed them in the bedroom and on the street for blackmail purposes.
Police said that the blackmailers used the money to buy a fleet of luxury cars including a Lamborgini, Ferrari and Rolls-Royce.
The full article contains 284 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
