Dortmund bus bomber had hoped to make a killing on the stock market

BERLIN: A 28-year-old German-Russian citizen was arrested in Germany yesterday on suspicion of bombing the bus carrying the Borussia Dortmund soccer team in an attack officials alleged was motivated by financial greed.

A Dortmund player and a policeman were injured in the triple blasts last week as the bus was heading to the team’s stadium for a Champions League game. Investigators found notes at the scene claim- ing responsibility on behalf of Islamic extremists, but quickly doubted their authenticity.

Federal prosecutors said the suspect, identified only as Sergej W, was arrested by a police tactical response team yesterday morning in or near the city of Tuebingen.

Police are now seeking two possible accomplices who are alleged to have picked up a rental car used to transport explosives devices to Dortmund, where the attack on the bus took place.

Prosecutors revealed that the suspect had taken out a loan and bought a large number of so-called put options for shares of Borussia Dortmund, betting on a drop in the share price. “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,” they said.

Ralf Jaeger, the top security official in North Rhine-West- phalia state, said the suspect had hoped to earn millions. “The man appears to have wanted to commit murder out of greed,” said Jaeger.

Prosecutors said they traced the computer used to purchase the put options to the luxury hotel in Dortmund where the team had been staying. They said W had also booked a room there and placed three explosives, packed with shrapnel, along the route the bus would take to reach the stadium for their first-leg match against Monaco on April 11.

“The explosive devices were detonated at the optimum time,” prosecutors said, noting that the team bus was equipped with security glass, and not reinforced glass. Several windows were shattered, injuring defender Marc Bartra. A police officer accompanying the bus also suffered trauma.

The club thanked authorities in a statement. “The fact that no further people were injured or killed was, as we now know, purely a matter of luck,” it said on Facebook.

Captain Marcel Schmelzer said the team hoped to learn further details about the background to the attack. “This information is important to everyone who sat in the bus because it would make it significantly easier to process (what happened),” he was quoted as saying.

After the three identical notes claiming responsibility for the attack were found at the scene, investigators initially considered the possibility that it might have been the work of Islamic extremists.

The notes demanded that Germany withdraw reconnaissance jets assisting the fight against Islamic State and close the US Ramstein Air Base in Germany. But experts said the letter’s mix of correct, complicated German and obvious mistakes suggested it was a red herring. – AP