Hong Kong police have arrested a man for allegedly spreading rumors on the Internet about a bank run amid anxiety in the territory about the US financial crisis, police said yesterday.
The man was arrested on Saturday for allegedly using a computer with criminal or dishonest intent, but has not been charged, police spokeswoman Odelia Tam said.
The 34-year-old man said on an Internet discussion forum that a run would occur on a local bank and urged people to withdraw their deposits, the Hong Kong government said in a statement late on Saturday.
Tam confirmed the statement but declined to identify the bank or the suspect.
Last Wednesday and Thursday, hundreds of customers swarmed the Bank of East Asia’s (東亞銀行) offices in Hong Kong and Singapore demanding cash withdrawals after a rumor questioned the bank’s stability.
Bank of East Asia and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority have issued statements reassuring customers that deposits are safe. Bank of East Asia is incorporated in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong police have also arrested 11 people in connection with a forged letter that claimed troubled US insurance giant American International Group Inc (AIG) was selling an Asian subsidiary.
AIG, the world’s largest insurer, escaped bankruptcy last week after the US Federal Reserve pledged a two-year, US$85 billion loan to prop up the company. Thousands of nervous policyholders in Hong Kong and Singapore still chose to cash their policies out.
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