Depositors hold up two Lebanese banks to grab their own money

BEIRUT, Sept 14 (Reuters) – Two seemingly armed and determined Lebanese depositors held up banks on Wednesday to drive entry to their very own cash, which has been blocked throughout a nationwide monetary meltdown.

One lady with a gun and a few associates briefly held hostages at a department of BLOM Financial institution (BLOM.BY) within the capital Beirut, earlier than leaving with greater than $13,000 in money from her account, a supply from a depositors’ advocacy group mentioned.

Shortly afterwards, within the mountain metropolis of Aley, an armed man entered a Bankmed department and retrieved a few of his trapped financial savings, earlier than handing himself into authorities, the Depositors Outcry and a safety supply mentioned.

Lebanon’s banks have locked most depositors out of their financial savings since an financial disaster took maintain three years in the past, leaving a lot of the inhabitants unable to pay for fundamentals.

In a phenomenon illustrating the plight, Wednesday’s holdups got here after a person final month held up one other Beirut financial institution to withdraw funds to deal with his sick father. learn extra

BLOM Financial institution mentioned a buyer and accomplices arrived with a gun, threatened to set folks on fireplace, and compelled the department supervisor and treasurer to convey cash from a secure.

‘NOTHING MORE TO LOSE’

Earlier than going into hiding, the lady, Sali Hafiz, informed native information channel Al Jadeed TV the gun was a toy and that she wanted the cash for her sister’s most cancers therapy.

“I’ve nothing extra to lose, I obtained to the tip of the street,” she mentioned, saying a go to to the financial institution supervisor two days beforehand had not supplied an enough answer.

“I obtained to some extent the place I used to be going to promote my kidney in order that my sister may obtain therapy.”

BLOM confirmed the shopper had been in to hunt her cash for her sister’s therapy, saying she was provided complete cooperation and requested to offer documentation.

“All we have now is that this cash within the financial institution. My daughter was pressured to take this cash – it is her proper, it is in her account – to deal with her sister,” her mom Hiam Hafiz informed native TV.

Authorities didn’t instantly touch upon the incidents.

Bankmed didn’t touch upon its department holdup.

Following final month’s holdup, which additionally concerned hostages, the accused perpetrator was arrested however then launched with out cost after the financial institution dropped its lawsuit.

One senior Lebanese banker, talking on situation of anonymity, informed Reuters it was a worrying precedent,

“I believe that is an invite for different folks to do the identical. So long as folks get away with it, they are going to proceed. What a failed state,” the banker mentioned.

Banks say they make exceptions for humanitarian instances together with hospital care, however depositors say that not often occurs.

Reporting by Timour Azhari, Laila Bassam and Issam Abdallah; Writing by Maya Gebeily
Enhancing by Frank Jack Daniel, Alexandra Hudson and Andrew Cawthorne.

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