OMT logo. (Credit: João Sousa/L'Orient Today)
BEIRUT — Lebanese financial companies OMT and Whish on Wednesday denied rumors circulating on local media regarding possible U.S. sanctions against them, claiming that they are the target of a defamation campaign.
The rumors prompted crowds to rush to withdraw their money from the companies' branches. Before that, Sharif Hijazi, an X account with over 40,000 followers, shared a post from January 2023 published by the former government commissioner at the military court, Peter Germanos: "U.S. sanctions against a money transfer company have become almost certain."
Moreover, rumors of this sort were also shared via WhatsApp, according to Whish.
At the time when Germanos posted the tweet in January 2023, the dollar exchange rate was out of control amid a period marked by the tightening of conversion quotas at the Sayrafa rate, as well as new U.S. sanctions against Hassan Moukalled and his currency exchange and transfer company CTEX, which had obtained its license from Banque du Liban (BDL) in 2021.
“OMT has recently been targeted by a campaign aimed at tarnishing its image and undermining its reputation and credibility by spreading false and unfounded news," OMT said in a statement on Wednesday relayed by local media outlets.
"Since its establishment in 1998, OMT has been operating under legal and regulatory frameworks that ensure complete transparency in all its financial operations. The company is fully committed to all Banque du Liban circulars, ensuring the highest standards of financial compliance, and its operations are audited by local and international sanctions regulations (OFAC, EU, HM, UN, etc.)," the statement continued.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Whish Money told local media outlet Lebanon24 that the circulating news is completely unfounded, saying that, like OMT, all of the company's offices are open, services are continuing, and there is no truth to any news promoting the contrary.
The spokesperson mentioned that the company cooperates with the largest financial services companies around the world, stressing that “malicious campaigns will not damage Whish's reputation and will not affect its work and service to our cutomers.”
