East Amman bank robbed at gunpoint on Sunday

AMMAN — Police are searching for a hooded man who robbed the Housing Bank for Trade and Finance (HBTF) at gun point in east Amman on Sunday morning, official sources said.

The suspect, who covered his face with a traditional headscarf and wore a baseball cap, reportedly entered the HBTF branch in the Manara neighbourhood early in the morning and stole JD10,000 in cash, Police Spokesperson Lt. Col. Amer Sartawi said.

“The suspect fled the scene and no one was injured in the incident,” Sartawi told The Jordan Times.

The bank issued a statement saying that they were robbed at gunpoint and that JD10,000 in cash was stolen, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

“No one was injured in the incident and the authorities were immediately notified," the bank’s statement said, adding that “clients need not worry about the incident, since the money in the branch is insured”.

Video clips circulated on social media showed a man wearing a baseball cap with his face covered in a traditional headscarf, reportedly walking into the branch and waving a gun, at the clients, in one hand, while carrying a plastic bag in the other.

The suspect is then seen heading to the counter and pointing a gun at a female employee, while filling a black bag with cash.

The suspect then looked around and noticed that some of the clients were attempting to flee from the bank, so he pointed the gun at them and turned his back around to face the teller while she handed him the cash.

Sunday’s incident was the first robbery targeting a financial institution in the Kingdom this year.

In 2018, eight banks and money exchange shops were targeted in Jordan, with some cases involving armed robbers, while other robbers used fake weapons.

Seven of the nine robbers have been arrested so far, while two suspects, who escaped with over JD105,000 in cash from two banks in the Wihdat neighbourhood and in Irbid, remain at large.