RIGA, Latvia - December 12, 2011 - Latvia's largest bank scrambled Monday to head off a run among depositors who were gripped by rumours of the bank's imminent ruin.

Weekend rumors that Swedbank was facing legal and liquidity problems in Estonia and Sweden sent thousands of Latvians to bank machines on Sunday, with some lines reaching as many as 50 people.

Latvians are particularly sensitive to speculation about the general health of banks. Latvijas Krajbanka, the country's 10th largest bank, was nationalized last month after regulators discovered evidence of massive fraud allegedly carried out by the bank's former owner, Russian businessman Vladimir Antonov. Depositors were deprived of access to their funds for days.

Three years ago, the country's second largest bank, Parex Bank, entered technical default and had to be taken over by the government, which in turn forced Latvia to appeal to international creditors and the European Union for a $10.5 billion bailout.

Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis told journalists that the rumors were spread maliciously with the intent to harm Latvia's banking system, the Baltic News Service reported. Interior Minister Rihards Kozlovskis said that police have opened a criminal investigation.

The rumors were limited to Latvia and did not spread to neighboring Estonia and Lithuania, which also have affiliates of the Swedish-controlled Swedbank.