Armed with bottles of petrol, two depositors held up a bank in Beirut on Thursday, attempting to forcibly recover about $30,000 of their own money.
In a rare failure, the two did not manage to recover their savings.
It was at least the fourth such bank raid this week as the nationwide phenomenon of angry depositors, desperate to access their own savings, continues.
The depositors are often aided and abetted by a network calling themselves the Depositors’ Outcry and a legal coalition called Moutahidoun that in most cases act as the legal council of the depositors.
“Depositors should not have to go to the banks and demand their own money,” Alaa Khourchid, president and founder of the Depositors' Outcry Association that helps people reclaim their savings – often by force – told The National. “But every action has a reaction.”
For two decades, Mr Khourchid lived in the West African country of Guinea, working and placing his savings in a Lebanese bank account.
But his money became trapped, along with hundreds of thousands of other people’s, in 2019 at the onset of Lebanon’s prolonged and severe financial crisis.
With the nation’s foreign reserves severely depleted and dollars scarce, its banks swiftly imposed illegal capital controls to avoid folding – preventing the outflow of money from the country and severely restricting the public’s access to their savings.
Mr Khourchid formed the Depositors’ Cry Association when it became apparent the majority of people’s savings may be gone forever.
“I refuse to believe my savings are lost or they won’t be recovered. Our money didn’t evaporate,” he told The National indignantly.
“Why should we suffer when there has been no accountability for the people who caused the economic crisis? Ordinary depositors have nothing to do with the financial problems facing the country. We didn’t cause them.”
The association has since vociferously encouraged citizens to demand their savings by storming banks, helping them to plan and co-ordinate hold-ups.
They are sometimes joined by Moutahidoun, according to Rami Olleik, the founder of the coalition, which lent Depositor's Outcry the legal basis to begun conducting bank raids.
Together they took responsibility for starting a “depositors' revolution,” according Mr Olleik, who has gained prominence for sometimes accompanying bank customers during raids.
“Unfortunately today’s operation didn’t work,” he said of Thursday's failed attempt to recoup savings because bank employees managed to sneak the branch’s money out of a back entrance before escaping.
It’s not uncommon to find Mr Olleik at the scene of a hold-up, advising bank customers on the best strategy for recovering their money.
On one occasion he was even arrested – for advising three depositors who managed to recover about $55,000 – before being released without charge.
Drifting apart
While Depositors’ Outcry and Moutahidoun had formed an understanding at the inception of the association, they have since drifted apart, Samia Sibaii, the treasurer of the Depositor’s Outcry, told The National.
"We focus on the legal aspects of conducting hold-ups, in the background. And we fought hard to give their association legal status,” Mr Olleik said, referring to Depositors' Outcry.
Both organisations maintain their actions are completely legal, relying on Article 184 of Lebanon’s penal code, which permits the use of force in self-defence or to protect one’s own money.
The depositors who storm the banks are often armed with Molotov cocktails, grenades, guns or rifles – sometimes fake, sometimes real.
To date, none of those behind the hold-ups – whether they acted alone, with the help of Depositors’ Outcry, or other associations – have been convicted.
And none of the raids have resulted in violence.
Mr Khourchid of Depositors' Outcry insists customers arm themselves as a scare tactic to convince bank employees to release their savings.
He says the association takes painstaking care to ensure the hold-ups don’t become violent.
“We are not interested in violence or in people being harmed,” he asserted. “Only in protecting our rights. We are pressuring for a solution. The state must come to a solution. The judiciary needs to pressure the banks and the state.”
While the Depositors’ Outcry is not the only organised group involved in conducting bank raids, nor the first, it is arguably the most infamous for inciting others to take action.
Since last year, the country’s banks have gradually transformed into walled steel fortresses, a defence mechanism against raids that has, ultimately, proven futile.
In an attempt to deter the wave of hold-ups, banks have even gone on strike several times.
Defending branches
This week, the Association of Banks (ABL) threatened to take further measures to defend branches.
"The banks are warning that they will not be able to continue business as usual,” an ABL statement said on Tuesday.
"This is not the way to deal with crises caused primarily by the state, and this is not how depositors will be able to recover the money that harmful policies have squandered over the years.”
While Depositors' Outcry and Moutahidoun are merely the most visible groups assisting in heists, it is not only ordinary people conducting the hold-ups.
In October 2022, MP Cynthia Zarazir, unarmed, stormed a bank branch, recovering $8,500 of her own money to pay for a medical operation not fully covered by her insurance.
She did so with the aid of the Depositors' Union, an association which also seeks to defend bank customers' rights.
To illustrate the demand for services assisting people in reclaiming their money, Mr Olleik said his organisation had a waiting list of at least 20 people seeking to conduct operations to recover their savings.
"One thing we know is we’re definitely worn out. We’re tired," he said. "But if someone is determined to stage a hold up, it we will back them up."
Squid Game season two
Director: Hwang Dong-hyuk
Stars: Lee Jung-jae, Wi Ha-joon and Lee Byung-hun
Rating: 4.5/5
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Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
New UK refugee system
- A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
- Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
- A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
- To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
- Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
- Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds
Going grey? A stylist's advice
If you’re going to go grey, a great style, well-cared for hair (in a sleek, classy style, like a bob), and a young spirit and attitude go a long way, says Maria Dowling, founder of the Maria Dowling Salon in Dubai.
It’s easier to go grey from a lighter colour, so you may want to do that first. And this is the time to try a shorter style, she advises. Then a stylist can introduce highlights, start lightening up the roots, and let it fade out. Once it’s entirely grey, a purple shampoo will prevent yellowing.
“Get professional help – there’s no other way to go around it,” she says. “And don’t just let it grow out because that looks really bad. Put effort into it: properly condition, straighten, get regular trims, make sure it’s glossy.”
David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
Teachers' pay - what you need to know
Pay varies significantly depending on the school, its rating and the curriculum. Here's a rough guide as of January 2021:
- top end schools tend to pay Dh16,000-17,000 a month - plus a monthly housing allowance of up to Dh6,000. These tend to be British curriculum schools rated 'outstanding' or 'very good', followed by American schools
- average salary across curriculums and skill levels is about Dh10,000, recruiters say
- it is becoming more common for schools to provide accommodation, sometimes in an apartment block with other teachers, rather than hand teachers a cash housing allowance
- some strong performing schools have cut back on salaries since the pandemic began, sometimes offering Dh16,000 including the housing allowance, which reflects the slump in rental costs, and sheer demand for jobs
- maths and science teachers are most in demand and some schools will pay up to Dh3,000 more than other teachers in recognition of their technical skills
- at the other end of the market, teachers in some Indian schools, where fees are lower and competition among applicants is intense, can be paid as low as Dh3,000 per month
- in Indian schools, it has also become common for teachers to share residential accommodation, living in a block with colleagues
Most sought after workplace benefits in the UAE
- Flexible work arrangements
- Pension support
- Mental well-being assistance
- Insurance coverage for optical, dental, alternative medicine, cancer screening
- Financial well-being incentives
Most wanted allegations
- Benjamin Macann, 32: involvement in cocaine smuggling gang.
- Jack Mayle, 30: sold drugs from a phone line called the Flavour Quest.
- Callum Halpin, 27: over the 2018 murder of a rival drug dealer.
- Asim Naveed, 29: accused of being the leader of a gang that imported cocaine.
- Calvin Parris, 32: accused of buying cocaine from Naveed and selling it on.
- John James Jones, 31: allegedly stabbed two people causing serious injuries.
- Callum Michael Allan, 23: alleged drug dealing and assaulting an emergency worker.
- Dean Garforth, 29: part of a crime gang that sold drugs and guns.
- Joshua Dillon Hendry, 30: accused of trafficking heroin and crack cocain.
- Mark Francis Roberts, 28: grievous bodily harm after a bungled attempt to steal a £60,000 watch.
- James ‘Jamie’ Stevenson, 56: for arson and over the seizure of a tonne of cocaine.
- Nana Oppong, 41: shot a man eight times in a suspected gangland reprisal attack.
Wicked: For Good
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater
Rating: 4/5
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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SERIE A FIXTURES
Friday Sassuolo v Benevento (Kick-off 11.45pm)
Saturday Crotone v Spezia (6pm), Torino v Udinese (9pm), Lazio v Verona (11.45pm)
Sunday Cagliari v Inter Milan (3.30pm), Atalanta v Fiorentina (6pm), Napoli v Sampdoria (6pm), Bologna v Roma (6pm), Genoa v Juventus (9pm), AC Milan v Parma (11.45pm)
Analysis
Members of Syria's Alawite minority community face threat in their heartland after one of the deadliest days in country’s recent history. Read more
MATCH INFO
England 19 (Try: Tuilagi; Cons: Farrell; Pens: Ford (4)
New Zealand 7 (Try: Savea; Con: Mo'unga)
RACECARD
6pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 – Group 1 (PA) $50,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
6.35pm: Festival City Stakes – Conditions (TB) $60,000 (D) 1,200m
7.10pm: Dubai Racing Club Classic – Listed (TB) $100,000 (Turf) 2,410m
7.45pm: Jumeirah Classic Trial – Conditions (TB) $150,000 (T) 1,400m
8.20pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 – Group 2 (TB) $250,000 (D) 1,600m
8.55pm: Cape Verdi – Group 2 (TB) $180,000 (T) 1,600m
9.30pm: Dubai Dash – Listed (TB) $100,000 (T) 1,000m
THE%20SPECS
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LILO & STITCH
Starring: Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Maia Kealoha, Chris Sanders
Director: Dean Fleischer Camp
Rating: 4.5/5
