‘I’ll Do it Again,’ Says Man Who Held Up Bank to Withdraw His Own Money

BEIRUT – Last week, Bassam al-Sheikh Hussein held up a bank armed with a rifle in a six-hour siege that saw him hold five employees and a customer hostage, but today he’s sitting at home a free man with no charges hanging over him at all.

Not only that, he’s also become something of a public hero for his actions at the Federal Bank branch in Hamra, west Beirut, last Thursday.

His desperate actions are indicative of the mind-bending extent of Lebanon’s descent into a near-total economic collapse. After decades of financial management following a devastating civil war, the country truly stands on the brink: a near-failed state going through one of the world’s worst-ever financial crises.

Hussein, 42, wasn’t trying to rob the branch of Lebanon’s Federal Bank in Hamra, west Beirut, he was trying to withdraw his own money. But like millions of other Lebanese people, he is only permitted to withdraw a limited amount every month, around $400. That was barely enough for Hussein to make ends meet and support his family, let alone pay off his father’s $50,000 medical bills and other mounting debts. He’s not even the first person to “rob” a bank to withdraw their own money in Lebanon.

“I was in a lot of debt, I had to pay a lot of money, but I didn't have any,” Hussein told VICE World News from his home in Beirut, sporting khaki trousers, a sleeveless top showing off a tiger tattoo, and the same backwards baseball cap he had worn that day.

Behind Hussein, who is married and has a son, sits his aged father, half-conscious, who lets out a pained groan as he looks up towards the ceiling. His father has severe Alzheimer's, which combined with multiple injuries from falls have left him debilitated and in need of further medical attention and care. His condition will require treatment, which is becoming increasingly expensive.

“I felt like I was being strangled,” Hussein said.

As the money dried up, and as his pleas to the bank were ignored, he says he ran out of patience.

“I told the manager, ‘if I can't get my money, I will come and burn down the branch’,” Hussein said.

Last Thursday, after one final argument in the bank branch and being told he couldn’t access his own savings worth $209,000 (about £173,000), Hussein’s patience, like the funds he had access to, dried up. He walked back to his car, picked up a rifle and a canister full of fuel.

He entered the branch and started dousing the premises in gasoline. He then locked the door of the bank, trapping six hostages inside.

“I told the hostages, ‘don't be scared, don't get involved in this and no one will get hurt’,” he said.

Videos soon started circulating on social media, footage shot on mobile phone cameras through the branch's barred windows showing Hussein screaming his demands at the staff. 

Hussein said that he was willing to do “whatever it takes” to get his money.

“I felt extraordinary, godly powers, something I have never felt before,” he continued, “there was so much anger in me, that I was ready to spill blood.”

As time wore on, he engaged in negotiations with the bank and the police as crowds of protesters supportive of Hussein and his actions began to gather in the streets outside the bank branch. 

After six gruelling hours, Bassam agreed on a sum of $35,000 to be paid in cash – from his own savings – that day. He said that the negotiators also promised him that he would be paid $400 every day onward and that he would be allowed to go home immediately.

Hussein confirmed that $35,000 is in a safe location with a family member, however instead of going straight home as promised, he was held in Lebanon’s Ministry of Interior for five days, half of which he was on hunger strike. A judge eventually released him after charges were dropped.

He said he also hasn’t received the $400 per day he was promised.

“They are liars, they were just telling me nice things so that I drop my weapon, and when I did that they failed to do what they promised,” he said.

There’s still a chance that Hussein could be prosecuted by a separate court, despite the Federal Bank withdrawing its complaint against him.

But Hussein is already thinking about the rest of his savings.

“Even before the money runs out, I will go to the bank and take more,” he said.

“Maybe next time I would use grenades, maybe using something else. Maybe the same bank, another bank, but I will do it again.”