Owner of Dutch car manufacturer wounded in assassination attempt

The Russian owner of Dutch Super-car manufacturer Spyker was the victim of a failed assassination attempt in Moscow on Wednesday, Russian daily Kommersant reports. Alexander Antonov was wounded in the stomach and lost his finger in the attack by an unknown assailant. He is currently in hospital where doctors say his condition is serious but stable. Investigators have suggested that the attempt may be related to his professional activities.

Antonov was attacked leaving his house at 10 am on March 11. The assassin fired 18 times of which five bullets hit Antonov in the stomach, one in the chest and another one shot a finger off, the paper quotes police as saying.  The attacker also wounded one of Antonov’s security guards in the leg.

Antonov’s wife heard the shots and called the police, while another of Antonov’s guards took the financier to the hospital.  

Police have begun a search for the attacker but it has so far yielded no results.

Some sources report that the assassination attempt was related to Antonov’s buisiness activities. Antonov and his son Vladimir are shareholders in the Kaliningrad seaport, which has reportedly caused Antonov problems recently.

The incident is currently under investigation and a criminal case has been initiated.

Antonov is also the president of OAO “Converse Bank”, the Russian “Enisei Bank”, Lithuanian bank Snoras, Latvian bank Krajbanka, and British Conversebank.

His total assets amount to $3.5 billion.