Six HSBC staff have been sacked after filming themselves staging a mock ISIS-style beheading during a team building day at a go karting centre.
The
footage posted online shows five men in black overalls and balaclavas
laughing as they stand over an Asian colleague, named as Saf Ahmed, who
is kneeling in an orange jumpsuit.
One
of the workers shouts 'Allahu Akbar' - Arabic for 'God is great' - as
an 'executioner' brandishes a coat hanger as a fake knife.
The eight-second video, obtained by The Sun, was shot as the workers were on a team-building exercise at a Teamworks Karting track in Birmingham organized by the bank.
In
a chilling echo to Jihadi John's execution videos, the men - thought to
be legal staff - stand behind their colleague holding the scruff of his
neck.
Both
British aid workers Alan Henning and David Haines wore similar orange
jumpsuits to the one seen in the HSBC workers' footage when they were
killed in the barbaric executions last year.
Mr Ahmed denied any knowledge of the video, which was posted on Instagram but later deleted.
A HSBC spokesperson said: 'We do not tolerate inappropriate behavior.
'We
took the decision to sack the individuals involved. This is an
abhorrent video and HSBC would like to apologize for any offense
caused.'
The workers'
video is the latest scandal for HSBC, which earlier this year was
accused of helping rich clients avoid tax and turning a blind eye to
arms dealers.
On
the 'Our Values' page of its website, HSBC Chief Executive Stuart
Gulliver says: 'By setting the highest standards of behavior our aim is
that all of our employees and customers can be proud of our business.'
The bank's customers and Twitter users slammed the stunt online today, branding it 'utter, utter idiocy'.
Ben Rose tweeted: 'That HSBC mock ISIS beheading. Supposed educated individuals. Bunch of absolute morons more like.'
And
another user added: 'HSBC only sacked those 'ISIS' goons because the
film was made public. Imagine what goes on in private at that place.'
ISIS has used its carefully-produced propaganda videos to recruit extremists from around the world to its cause.
The
horrific footage of the beheadings of US and British hostages featuring
the killer known-as 'Jihadi John' were designed to cause maximum shock
around the world.
Hostages
were put in orange jumpsuits in a perverse reference to inmates at
Guantanamo Bay detention camp, where high-risk terrorists were
imprisoned by the US authorities.
The videos were spread through social media and YouTube in a bid to attract radicals from around the world to their side.
It
is not the first time the propaganda videos have been recreated for
poor-taste jokes. Earlier this year, actress Dakota Johnson was
criticised for filming an ISIS-themed skit for US show Saturday Night
Live.
The
sequence poked fun at a Toyota advert, but showed Johnson jumping into
the back of an ISIS jeep. The sketch was slammed as 'depraved' and
'tasteless' by viewers.
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