Attack on German football club allegedly motivated by greed
By
Dietmar Henning
27 April 2017
At the end of last week, German police arrested a man accused of the recent bombing attack on the coach of the Borussia Dortmund (BVB) football team.
Three bombs hidden behind a hedge exploded as the bus set off from the team hotel on April 11 on the way to a Champions League game. One player, the defender Marc Batra, suffered severe injuries to his wrist. Other BVB players on the bus avoided death or serious injury only because the placement of one of the bombs lessened its impact. Against the plans of the perpetrator, the metal parts contained in the bomb flew over the top of the bus.
The federal prosecutor has accused 28-year-old Sergei W. of attempted murder, responsibility for explosions and serious bodily harm. He intended to injure as many players as possible.
Investigators have said that his motive was greed. W. had bet on the stock market on a drastic fall in the value of Borussia-Dortmund shares following the attack. The sudden drop in share value would have guaranteed him a massive profit win.
The young man is alleged to have taken out a consumer credit of more than 40,000 to buy options on BVB shares on the day of the attack—a total of three different derivatives. The options permit investors to bet on a rise or fall in the prices of shares or other securities and earn high profits as a result.
Spiegel Online reported that W. stood to gain up to 200,000 if the BVB share were to sink from its value of 6 to under 1.
The alleged perpetrator built the three bombs professionally but was utterly amateurish in the execution of his crime. He placed his stock market bets at the same Dortmund hotel, L’Arrivée, where the team was due to stay. W. had moved into a room in the…