AMMAN, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- About 10 million U.S. dollars were stolen from a vault of the Damascus-based International Bank for Trade and Finance (IBTF), a Jordanian bank which has a majority share in the Syrian bank said Thursday, as the IBTF itself accused the vault head of involving in the theft.
Jordan's Housing Bank for Trade and Finance, which owns 49 percent in the IBTF, said around 3.4 million U.S. dollars, 4.7 million euros and some 33 million Syrian pounds were robbed from the bank in Syria on Jan. 17, according to a disclosure posted on the website of the Amman Stock Exchange on Thursday.
In the statement, the Jordanian bank said management of the Syrian bank discovered the theft on Jan. 20 and reported it to the security authorities and insurance.
Meanwhile, the Syrian bank said the head of the vault was involved in the theft along with other persons that do not work at the bank, adding that the theft did not affect its financial position and liquidity and stressed that the deposits were not affected at all, according to the statement of which a copy was obtained by Xinhua.
It said all measures are taken to get back the money in coordination with the specialized authorities.
Chaos has spread in different parts of Syria since early 2011 to date as armed rebels seek to topple Syrian President Bashar Al- Assad.
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