German police announced in a statement that they have arrested a 28-year-old German-Russian man identified as Sergej W. for the April 11 bombing of the Borussia Dortmund football team bus for financial gain.
According to the statement, which was translated by BuzzFeed, the man bought 15,000 options to short the team’s stock, believing that if any of the players were hurt or killed, the stock price would drop significantly.
The Associated Press reports that police found the suspect because of the options purchase and the loan he took out to complete the trade.
The suspect came to the attention of investigators because he had made “suspicious options purchases” — taken out a five-figure loan to bet on a drop in the clubs’ stock on the day of the attack.
Der BVB-Mannschaftsbus steht noch auf der Straße. Scheiben hinten kaputt #BVBASM pic.twitter.com/p7DPJoyU4K
— Sebastian Kolsberger (@SKolsberger) April 11, 2017
The bombing took place before the April 11 Champions League match against Monaco, which was subsequently moved to the following night. Defender Marc Bartra was the only player injured, and he is recovering from surgery for a broken wrist.
1. Important update on Dortmund bus attack by @bopanc. Explosive used was military-grade (uncharacteristic of ISIS) https://t.co/rKnmcsyAz6
— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) April 17, 2017
This arrest is a wild twist in the story, as police had initially linked ISIS to the attack. That was quickly dismissed as the explosive used was atypical of those used in previous bombings. Police then investigated whether it was carried out by the far right, before Sergei W. and his suspicious options purchase came to their attention.
