Dortmund bus attack suspect arrested by German cops ‘planted bombs to profit from shares he owned in club’
GERMAN special forces have arrested a man suspected of carrying out the bomb attack on the Borussia Dortmund team bus.
It's been reported a bizarre money-making plot is now being probed as the possible motive after the team was targeted as it travelled to a Champions League match with AS Monaco.
Rather than having links to radical Islamism, he is said to be a market trader hoping to make money if the price of shares in the team fell, prosecutors say.
The 28-year-old suspect, named as a German-Russian citizen Sergej W, allegedly bought 15,000 'Put' shares in the club just before the bombing and planned the attack so he could earn up to €4m (£3.3m) if their value price plummeted.
They said he had bought a large number of so-called "Put" options which would have entitled him to sell the shares at a pre-determined price - resulting in a substantial profit if their value had fallen in the meantime.
"A significant share price drop could have been expected if a player had been seriously injured or even killed as a result of the attack," said prosecutors.
It's claimed the suspect was staying in the team hotel on the day of the attack and had a room that overlooked the street where three devices exploded near the bus on April 11.
Police are investigating whether the bombs were detonated remotely from the hotel room as the bus passed by.
The explosives used in the 11 April attack contained metal pins - one of which buried itself into a headrest on the coach - and had a range of 100m.
Police believe the explosives which shattered the windows of the team bus may have been hidden in a hedge near the car park of the L'Arrivee Hotel and Spa on the outskirts of Dortmund.
The blasts happened around six miles from the Westfalenstadion, where the team had been due to face the French side in a quarter-final first-leg tie.
The match was postponed for 24 hours and travelling fans were offered a place to stay for the night by Borussia Dortmund supporters on social media.
It comes a week after cops detained an "Islamist" on suspicion of involvement - with another said to be still at large.
How do 'Put' options work?
Put options are bets that the price of the underlying asset is going to fall. Puts are excellent trading instruments when you’re trying to guard against losses in stock, futures contracts, or commodities that you already own. Here is a typical situation where buying a put option can be beneficial: Say, for example, that you bought ABC Ltd shares at £20, but you start getting concerned, because the stock price is starting to drift. A good way to protect yourself when you’re in this situation is to buy a Put option at a premium. By buying the Put, you’re locking in the value of your stock at a certain amount - say £25per share - until the expiration date of the option. If the stock price falls to £15 per share, you still can sell it to someone at £25 per share, as long as the option has not expired. The Put option gives you the right to sell the stock at £25 no matter how low the price falls. There are some disadvantages though as the stock has to make a move downward in order for the Put option to increase in value. If the stock stays flat or doesn't move, then the Put option will lose value due to time decay.
The new suspect is accused of attempted murder, inflicting serious bodily harm and causing an explosion, prosecutors said.
The blasts shattered the bus windows and wounded Dortmund player Marc Bartra and a police officer as the team travelled to a Champions League tie against Monaco on April 11.
Cops revealed the roadside explosive devices were made with deadly metal strips - with one later found embedded in a headrest on the coach.
Last week two suspects were arrested - one of a pair of "Islamists" and another person.
An official said then: "We can be happy that nothing worse happened. We are treating this incident as a terrorist attack."
Lead prosecutor Frauke Koehle said: "Two suspects from the Islamist spectrum have become the focus of our investigation. Both of their apartments were searched, and one of the two has been detained."
Bild newspaper reported one of the two was seen in the vicinity of the crime scene shortly before the bombs were detonated.
Local media report both have been on the police and intelligence services radar for affiliation to Islamic State.
Cops initially found a letter claiming responsibility for the explosion - which saw Borussia Dortmund player Marc Bartra rushed to hospital and a match postponed - as "suspicious objects" were later found near the player's hotel.
Police now say three letters claiming responsibility for the attack, all of them citing that it was carried out in the name of Islam, have now been found.
The German newspaper and other national media has reported the letter began: "In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful."
It also reports the document refers to the truck attack on a Berlin Christmas market and claims German warplanes are killing Muslims in the lands controlled by the terror group ISIS.
The letter reportedly adds that sports stars and celebrities in "Germany and other Crusader nations" are on a "death list of the Islamic State". It also called for the closure of the US air base at Ramstein, near the French border.
Tuesday night's match was cancelled following the explosion and has been rescheduled for today
Bartra, 26, was taken to hospital following the blasts which blew out windows in the coach.
The Spanish defender was to undergo surgery on his injured arm to repair a fracture and remove shrapnel.
A police officer on a motorcycle was also injured.
He had been escorting the team bus and suffered trauma from the noise of the blasts.
Bartra's father told Die Welt: "He didn't know what had happened. He was shocked when I spoke to him.
"He heard a loud bang and had a sore head."
Goalkeeper Roman Bürki, 26, said: "The bus turned to the main road, when there was a giant bang - a real explosion.
"After the bang, we all crouched in the bus, who could, laid down on the ground. We did not know if more could happen. "
The match in Dortmund was cancelled in the wake of the bombs. Monaco won the rescheduled game 3-1.ext morning.
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