(MENAFN- AFP) Arsonists torched two cars early on Tuesday outside the home of the head of Bank of Cyprus, who has overseen a major restructuring of the island's largest lender, police said.
John Patrick Hourican –- a former Royal Bank of Scotland senior executive who joined BoC in October 2013 -- was out of the country on business at the time of the arson attack.
A bank service vehicle was completely destroyed, while the car parked next to it outside Hourican's home in the Nicosia suburb of Strovolos suffered extensive fire damage, police said.
Nicosia police chief Demetris Demetriou told the Cyprus News Agency: "It seems that the specific vehicle was used by the driver and the family of Mr Hourican for whenever they come to Cyprus."
Police said they were still investigating the motive but are treating it as "malicious".
Bank of Cyprus spokesman Michalis Persianis told state radio that the car belonged to the bank but was not used by Hourican himself.
He said the bank had received no warning letter or threat before the attack.
In March 2013, Cyprus clinched a painful 10-billion-euro ($13 billion) loan from the European Union and International Monetary Fund to bail out its troubled economy and oversized banking sector.
Under the terms of the controversial deal, the government was required to close the island's second-largest bank, Laiki, and impose a 47.5 percent haircut on deposits above 100,000 euros at BoC.
It was the first such haircut in the eurozone.
Hundreds of Cypriots who had invested in bank bonds were also left out of pocket.
BoC has since undergone major restructuring under Hourican's management, which has included a 1 billion euro recapitalisation and the sale of overseas assets.
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