Man arrested in Dortmund bomb attack on suspicion of stock plot

The team bus of the Borussia Dortmund football club was damaged in an explosion last week.

Credit: Maja Hitij

Credit: Maja Hitij

The team bus of the Borussia Dortmund football club was damaged in an explosion last week.

DORTMUND, Germany -- German officials arrested a 28-year-old German-Russian man on suspicion of carrying out last week's bomb attack on a bus carrying the Borussia Dortmund soccer team, CNN reported Friday. Police said the man's motivation  to collapse the club's share price so he could profit from stock market speculation, The Guardian reported.

On April 11, the day of the attack, the, man, identified as Sergej W., had bought a put option on Borussia Dortmund’s shares, giving him the right to sell the shares for a specified price at a predetermined date.

Had the explosives killed a member of the team and if the club’s share price had dropped, the value of his stock would have increased significantly, the Guardian reported.

According to German media reports, Sergej W. bought 15,000 put warrants.

The suspect was staying at the Dortmund team hotel on the day of the attack, prosecutors said in a statement.

Sergej W. was arrested near the southwestern German city of Tuebingen, the BBC reported.

Two people needed medical help after three bombs exploded near the bus, the BBC reported. Spanish soccer player Marc Bartra underwent wrist surgery and a police officer was treated for shock.

Prosecutors told the BBC that the suspect did not have any links to a terrorist group, but was a market trader hoping to make money if the price of shares in the Dortmund team dropped.