ARSON: Bank of Cyprus CEO’s car burnt, second damaged

Two service vehicles belonging to the Bank of Cyprus were burnt in an arson attack before dawn on Tuesday outside the home of the bank’s CEO John Hourican.

One of the two cars was totally destroyed and the second was partly destroyed on the side, a police report said.
The arson took place at 3.10am and the CEO was not in Cyprus at the time.
“Both cars belong to the bank and one was parked in a dark corner near the house (in the capital’s Strovolos suburb),” Investor Affairs Officer Michalis Persianis told CyBC radio.
Other news reports suggest that the car that was totally destroyed was used by Hourican’s family.
The CEO has been under pressure from the day he got the job almost 15 months ago to rescue and restructure the island’s biggest lender and start recovery of the non-performing loans, estimated at some 50% of the bank’s loanbook.
At the same time, during several public meetings, shareholders and bondholders who were duped into buying BOCY securities by the previous management but saw their savings disappear into thin air, have expressed their frustration, often with violence, storming the bank’s headquarters on two previous occasions, demanding some form of restitution.
As much as Hourican has often expressed his sympathy for the depositors and bondholders, the CEO has said that the bank is in no position to compensate them for their losses.