PLOT TWIST

Prosecutors: German Bus Bombing Targeted for Share Price

Suspect wanted to hurt club’s stock so he could profit.

The man who is suspected of attacking the Borussia Dortmund soccer team’s bus on April 11 allegedly aimed to drive down the price of the club’s stock in order to profit through a speculation scheme. German federal prosecutors announced the alleged motive Friday, saying that the 28-year-old German-Russian, identified only as Sergei W., has been charged with attempted murder, inflicting serious bodily harm, and carrying out an explosion. Officials said Sergei checked into the same hotel that the team was staying in and then bought 15,000 “put options” for shares in the publicly traded team. “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,” prosecutors said. The bombing did injure one player, Marc Bartra, but the match was rescheduled for the following night. A police officer was also wounded in the attack. Sergei could have profited by a lot if the value of the shares had actually fallen, prosecutors said.