Lebanon arrests three after over $1 million swiped from home

Police in Lebanon, where a banking crisis has forced people to stash cash at home, said Friday that three people have been arrested after stealing over $1 million from a private residence.

The three Syrians - a man, his wife and a relative - were arrested on November 11, a week after allegedly making off with the trove that had been kept in the safe of a house in Mount Lebanon, said a police statement.

The bulk of the cash had been recovered, but one of those detained had spent around $70,000 on a wedding, a car and furniture, it added.

Lebanon has been reeling from a financial crisis dubbed by the World Bank as one of the worst in recent world history.

It has driven people in the eastern Mediterranean country to hide a total of around $10 billion in their homes, according to central bank governor Riad Salameh.