VIDEO: Frustrated Lebanese take up bank 'heists’ to free their frozen savings as cash crisis worsens

Gulf Today Report

Depositors stormed five Lebanese banks to demand the release of their frozen savings in the banking system, in continuation of a series of incidents this week, amid frustration due to the worsening financial collapse with no end in sight.

A security source said that a man with a pistol, which turned out to be a toy, was arrested, stormed a Lebanese bank in the southern city of Ghazieh, on Friday.

BLOM Bank said in a statement that a gunman stormed the bank's branch in the New Road area in Beirut, on Friday morning, to demand his savings, adding that the situation was under control.

Cheers in support of the man, identified as Abed Sobra, erupted from a large crowd outside the bank, a scene repeated in many of these incidents.

One of the residents, Rabah Koçuk, said that Subara is a merchant and that he is liable to be imprisoned because there are creditors who demand money from him even though he has money in the bank.

In a third incident, a gunman with a cartridge pistol entered a branch of the Bank of Lebanon and the Gulf in the Ramlet el-Bayda area in Beirut to recover savings estimated at $50,000, a bank employee said, adding that the situation is still ongoing, and that there are employees and customers stuck inside.

This was at least the fifth such incident, this week, in Lebanon.

The depositor, Sally Hafez, turned into a “hero,” as described by the users of social networking sites who reported her story, and a picture of her holding a pistol and standing on the desk of a bank employee.

Hours later, one of the depositors in the city of Aley attempted to take his deposit in a bank by force.

On August 11, an angry man entered a bank in the Hamra district of Beirut, gained similar popular solidarity, after holding employees for hours, and demanding his money at gunpoint, to pay for his father's treatment.

During the past two years, the waiting halls of banks witnessed repeated problems between angry citizens wishing to obtain their deposits and employees committed to the instructions of their administrations.

Two bankers said Lebanese banks will soon announce a three-day closure, next week, due to heightened security concerns.

Lebanese banks have prevented most depositors from withdrawing their savings since the economic crisis deepened three years ago, leaving many unable to pay for basic needs.

Capital controls have not been legalized, but the courts are slow to pass judgments in favor of depositors trying to obtain their savings by filing lawsuits against banks, prompting some to look for alternative ways to get their money.

The security source explained that the man who stormed the Byblos Bank in the city of Ghazieh managed, on Friday, to recover part of his money before his arrest, adding that it was believed that the weapon he had was a toy.

Officials at Byblos Bank could not be reached for comment.

Blom Bank said that security forces negotiated with Soubra, who stormed a bank branch in Beirut, to persuade him to leave the building, adding that he was believed to have handed over the weapons to the security forces.

Friday's incidents came in the wake of two other incidents in the capital, Beirut, and in the town of Aley, on Wednesday, during which depositors were able to recover part of their money by force using toy pistols that were mistakenly believed to be real weapons.

The Association of Banks in Lebanon urged the authorities, on Thursday, to hold accountable those involved in verbal and physical attacks on banks, and said that the banks themselves will not tolerate it.

A man was arrested last month after he broke into a Beirut bank to withdraw money for his ailing father, but was released without charge after the bank dropped his lawsuit against him.