An armed depositor during a hold-up in Crédit Libanais' branch in Hazmieh, Nov. 2, 2022. (Credit: Mohammed Yassin)
BEIRUT — At least five people — including two depositors, one of whom was armed — infiltrated Crédit Libanais' Hazmieh branch on Wednesday to demand the return of one of their group's deposited funds, according to live images broadcasted on social media by the Spotshot news platform.
The live video showed at least two men and one woman, accompanied by journalists, trying to intimidate the branch's employees into handing them their money, according to lawyer and activist Rami Olleik, who was on the scene with the two depositors.
Police and military personnel are heavily deployed on the scene, according to L'Orient-Le Jour's photographer who is present outside the bank.
(Credit: Mohammed Yassin)
According to Olleik, who was contacted by L'Orient Today, the two depositors are Ibrahim Baydoun and Ali Sahili. One of the two depositors was seen holding a pistol and a bottle of gasoline. He told Spotshot in a live video that the son of the other depositor he was helping had fled the scene shortly after the holdup started.
The Depositors' Union said in a tweet that one of the depositors is a retired soldier.
Gas fumes
Olleik told L'Orient Today that the two depositors combined managed to obtain $55,924 out of a total of $195,000 in funds in their accounts at the bank, and that he and the depositors are still inside the branch.
According to news website Lebanon Debate, the two depositors and others inside the bank are suffering from the inhalation of gas fumes after fuel was spilled inside the premises, as ventilation was shut down following a power cut in the bank.
According to Lebanon Debate, the two depositors and Olleik are still negotiating their exit from the bank with security forces.
Olleik is known for having helped other depositors recover their money by force during similar bank holdups in recent months.
Exchange of threats
In the evening, the Depositors' Union tweeted that the two depositors — who were still inside the Crédit Libanais branch at 7 p.m. — had poured gasoline inside the bank's premises and prepared six Molotov cocktails to use "in the event they are attacked by the security forces."
The union reiterated that the depositors are demanding their full deposits before they are willing to leave the bank.
In a separate tweet, the union added that the Association of Banks threatened "in a phone call" that security forces would "storm the bank." The Association also warned that banks could go on open strike, which would cause the Lebanese lira to plummet against the dollar.
The Depositors' Union also tweeted that Internal Security Forces had told the depositors, “This time is different than previous times, and we will storm the bank.”
Since 2019, as Lebanon plunged into an unprecedented economic crisis, banks have imposed severe restrictions on customers, limiting withdrawals and transfers. After years of such restrictions, Lebanon in recent months has witnessed a spate of bank holdups in which depositors burst into branches to claim, with varying degrees of force, their own savings.
These operations, carried out by armed or unarmed clients and resulting in varying degrees of success, have forced banks to close temporarily several times, before reopening with reinforced security measures and stricter protocols for how and when they receive clients.
Additional reporting by Mohammed Yassin
CORRECTION: This article was updated at 1:05 p.m. to clarify that two depositors, one of whom was armed, were involved the holdup, and not one depositor alongside an armed accomplice as previously stated.
