Borussia Dortmund bomber was shorting club shares, claims German prosecutor
21 April 2017 Dortmund
Image: Shutterstock
A Borussia Dortmund bombing suspect has been accused of attempting to profit from the attack through shorting shares in the German football club.
Three bombs went off near the Borussia Dortmund bus on 11 April as the team travelled to its next Champion’s League fixture in what was initially believed to be an Islamic terrorist attack.
German authorities arrested a man, identified as Sergej W, a 28-year-old German and Russian national, on his way to work on Friday (21 April) and charged him with attempted murder and other crimes.
The German prosecutor confirmed in a statement that the accused acquired 15,000 put options in Borussia Dortmund shares on the day of the attack (11 April), with a term to 17 June.
The options were purchased via the IP address of the Hotel L'Arrivée, where Sergej, along with the Borussia Dortmund team, were staying.
The German attorney general explained: “In the event of a massive decline in Borussia Dortmund shares, the profit would have been multiplied by the provisional calculations. A significant drop in the price would have been expected if, as a result of the attack, players had been seriously injured or even killed.”
Two people required medical treatment after the attack, with Borussia Dortmund centre-back Marc Bartra needing wrist surgery. A police officer was also treated for shock.
Potential fatalities were only avoided because one of the devices, which were filled with metal pins, was placed about a meter off the ground and therefore too high to be fully effective, according to the German prosecutor’s statement.
Dortmund’s share price did fall from €5.73 on 10 April to €5.61 after the attack on 11 April. The share price quickly rebounded to €5.71 the follow day but is trading at €5.58, as of 11:00am today.
The suspect attempted to pass the attack off as an Islamic terrorist attack by leaving three letters claiming a radical Islamist motive for the attack and making threats of further attacks in certain demands weren’t met.
The documents were examined by experts and “considerable doubts about a radical Islamist origin” were quickly raised due to inconsistencies between this bombing and previous attacks.
Picture source: Borussia Dortmund
Three bombs went off near the Borussia Dortmund bus on 11 April as the team travelled to its next Champion’s League fixture in what was initially believed to be an Islamic terrorist attack.
German authorities arrested a man, identified as Sergej W, a 28-year-old German and Russian national, on his way to work on Friday (21 April) and charged him with attempted murder and other crimes.
The German prosecutor confirmed in a statement that the accused acquired 15,000 put options in Borussia Dortmund shares on the day of the attack (11 April), with a term to 17 June.
The options were purchased via the IP address of the Hotel L'Arrivée, where Sergej, along with the Borussia Dortmund team, were staying.
The German attorney general explained: “In the event of a massive decline in Borussia Dortmund shares, the profit would have been multiplied by the provisional calculations. A significant drop in the price would have been expected if, as a result of the attack, players had been seriously injured or even killed.”
Two people required medical treatment after the attack, with Borussia Dortmund centre-back Marc Bartra needing wrist surgery. A police officer was also treated for shock.
Potential fatalities were only avoided because one of the devices, which were filled with metal pins, was placed about a meter off the ground and therefore too high to be fully effective, according to the German prosecutor’s statement.
Dortmund’s share price did fall from €5.73 on 10 April to €5.61 after the attack on 11 April. The share price quickly rebounded to €5.71 the follow day but is trading at €5.58, as of 11:00am today.
The suspect attempted to pass the attack off as an Islamic terrorist attack by leaving three letters claiming a radical Islamist motive for the attack and making threats of further attacks in certain demands weren’t met.
The documents were examined by experts and “considerable doubts about a radical Islamist origin” were quickly raised due to inconsistencies between this bombing and previous attacks.
Picture source: Borussia Dortmund
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