Saturday, April 22, 2017

A 28-year-old suspect, Sergej W, was arrested by German police near Tübingen yesterday for allegedly attacking the German football club Borussia Dortmund’s team bus, injuring two people last week prior to the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals, the German federal prosecution said.

The suspect, who holds a dual citizenship of Germany and Russia, was allegedly trying to bring down Borussia Dortmund’s share value in the stock market. Sergej W bought 15000 puts for stock worth €78000 (£65300) on April 11 — the day Borussia Dortmund’s bus was attacked. A put guarantees that a share holder can sell their stock, no later than a predetermined point in time, at a predetermined price even if the market price of the stock has dropped. The suspect booked a room in the hotel L’Arriveé from April 9 to 13, and then from April 16 to 20 — the time when Champion League’s first and second leg of the quarterfinals were to be played. Dortmund’s team commonly stays at L’Arriveé when playing home matches.

Borussia Dortmund is the only German club whose shares are publicly traded on the stock market. The incident resulted in two casualties. Spanish defender Marc Bartra and a police official were injured, and the stocks fell slightly. The prosecutor said if the explosions had caused serious injured or death of any players, the suspect might have made a huge profit. The suspect is charged for attempted murder and causing serious physical injury.

On April 11, Borussia Dortmund were to play AS Monaco at the Signal Iduna Park. The match was rescheduled due the attack for April 12. On the latter day, a 25-year-old Iraqi migrant was detained. A number of letters claiming responsibility were found near the site of explosion, about six miles from the stadium. Those letters reportedly hinted the explosions were authorised under the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, but were deemed fake after careful analysis.