crime
Man extorts money from a bank branch in Lebanon – his own
Media and security forces gather in front of the BLOM bank branch. For the third time in a week, a man has demanded his own money in a bank robbery in Lebanon. photo
© Bilal Hussein/AP/dpa
Because of the severe economic crisis in Lebanon, many people have slipped into poverty. But even Lebanese with savings can hardly get their money – some resort to drastic measures.
For the fourth time in a week, a bank in Lebanon has been robbed – the perpetrators demanded their own money. The country in the eastern Mediterranean region has been suffering from the worst economic crisis in its history for almost three years. As a result, a large proportion of the Lebanese no longer have access to their savings.
Chaotic scenes took place in front of a bank branch in the capital Beirut on Friday. “I’ll stay until I get my rights,” yelled the man in the bank, as a reporter from the German Press Agency heard on Friday. “I am a merchant and need money to pay my employees and continue my business.”
Meanwhile, a crowd had gathered in front of the bank. Some called for the storming of the branch to free up their own savings as well. “My brother is an honest man and a trader who needs his money to support his family,” said a man outside the bank posing as a family member. One demonstrator called for violence to be used if necessary. “Lebanese banks are stealing our money,” he said.
The raid in Beirut was the second on Friday. Shortly before, a man in the port city of Byblos had extorted his own frozen money with his son. According to reports, the perpetrators of the attack in Byblos handed around 19,000 US dollars to an accomplice, who fled with it. The father and son were then arrested.
The currency has lost more than 90 percent of its value
The Lebanese Banking Association announced on Friday that all bank branches in the country will remain closed from Monday to Wednesday.
Two days ago, a woman with a dummy gun stormed a bank in the capital Beirut, took hostages and received around $13,000 from her own deposit. On the same day there was also a raid in the southeast.
In August, a gunman held several hostages in a bank for hours and threatened to set himself on fire with petrol if his savings were not paid out. He reportedly had around $200,000 in his bank account and needed money to pay for his father’s treatment at a hospital.
The national currency in Lebanon has lost more than 90 percent of its value in the course of the crisis. Because the Lebanese pound used to be pegged to the dollar, many Lebanese have accounts in the US currency. However, with the country running out of foreign exchange, they are very limited in their ability to withdraw dollars from their bank. Large sections of the population have slipped into poverty.