"Wait till he comes out, then all of you will know who Dr really is..." were the prophetic words of Mohd Farid Abdullah to malaysiakini during a late night interview yesterday at Villa Putra.

The 67-year-old had invited malaysiakini to his son-in-law Elie Youssef Najem's condominium to "clarify all matters which the press is not printing", and reiterated his full support of Elie's claims to be worth billions of dollars.

"Why crucify a person without getting his side of the story? The media has been reporting a lot of falsities despite me and Dr explaining and showing them the relevant documents.

"But no papers published the information. I don't understand why. Can someone tell me why?"

Throughout the two-hour interview, Mohd Farid kept referring to Elie as "Dr" with an occasional "my son-in-law". A team from national news agency Bernama came in later.

Relating events leading up to Sunday's arrest, he said Elie was afraid of how the police will treat him because he had a bad experience during the arrest on Sept 21 last year.

"There was a superintendent by the name of Abdul Karim who guaranteed me that they will not use any harmful tactics on him. Then I called him to open the door (at Villa Putra).

"About 6pm, he said this in front of the police. 'Father, no matter what, I will still proceed with what I have pledged for the cancer children.'"

Then he was taken away to Bukit Aman. Later that night, I was asked to bring in previous police reports (both of us had) lodged against creditors and loan sharks.

Mohd Farid claimed loan sharks had ransacked Elie's home and company Cash Discovery Network, relieving the premises of fixtures and equipment including computers, air-conditioners and other items in September last year.

Both lodged police reports on Sept 19 and Dec 8.

Problems with creditors

When we entered the office, we found that everything had been removed by the money lender whose name is John Tan. He is the one who had gone to see Michael Chong claiming he is owed RM176,000.

"Dr borrowed RM35,000 from him (Tan) through personal friends and the difference of RM131,000 is the interest for a period of less than one-and-a-half months."

He said Elie then met Richard Tan, another creditor who supplied computers and who later allegedly removed the items from the office.

Mohd Farid claimed that Elie's contract (Richard) Tan to purchase computers and CCTV on Sept 9, 10, 11 and 12 stated that payment will be made within 30 days.

Subsequently, he said Elie issued two post-dated cheques for RM100,000 and RM300,000.

"But he (Tan) turned up at the office with a group of people following Dr's arrest on Sept 21, told staff he had a warrant to remove the items and proceeded to do so," he recalled.

A police report was lodged the following day by the company's accounts clerk, he said.

On Sept 16 and Oct 12, Elie lodged a police report regarding the theft of several mobile phones while his wife, Farinnie, 19, reported receiving a series of threatening text messages.

Mohd Farid who lives in Pandan Jaya with his wife Sofiah Shauket Md Hashim, 57, and four other children, said some people had even thrown rotten eggs at his house.

The self-proclaimed Lebanese 'billionaire' was thrust into the media spotlight following a billion-ringgit pledge to the National Cancer Council on Jan 7 for a research and treatment facility in the heart of Kuala Lumpur.

Staff jealous of Farinnie

Asked about Farinnie, he said as a very young woman she was very distraught and emotionally-disturbed by the entire episode of allegations and media reports.

Relating events following the hiring of Farinnie and her elder sister Farisha at Cash Discovery Network which opened Sept 1, he said jealousy was the sole motive that was fuelling allegations by former staffers.

"Two weeks after they joined the company, Dr approached me about marrying Farinnie. We left the decision to her. We only want her to be happy.

"But when Dr announced Farinnie as company vice-president, several staff became jealous and started making all kinds of allegations including sexual harassment when we can see how impossible it would be while being confined to arm-length crutches."

Asked on reports that Elie was wanted by enforcement authorities in several countries, Mohd Farid lashed out at the media saying that it had failed to report the truth.

"We have been giving media people the facts over the last one week but what is eventually published is always the same old thing about the allegations.

"In the middle of last week, I heard him speaking to an official at the Canadian Embassy here and he told me that they had clarified the matter and that he is in the clear."

Regarding the validity of the couple's marriage certificate which is reportedly false, he said, he had already given a statement to the police on Jan 14.

"I have given the police who came to my house about the marriage certificate all the details pertaining to the persons who solemnised the union.

"They are two men who were introduced by one of my friends. I don't know who they are but I have no doubts whatsoever about the validity of the marriage in the eyes of God."

'Just be patient'

Asked on the identity of the two men, Mohd Farid declined to reveal details but only said that one of them claimed to be from the Federal Territory religious affairs department while the other was a kadi.

"I only verified that Dr was a Muslim before marrying Farinnie. I asked my friend to check that and he said Dr's status was clear.

"But since these allegations have cropped up, my wife and I have spoken to the two men and asked them to come forward with the truth on the akad nikah which was performed on Oct 6 after Dr was released on bail."

He was also unable to explain why the certificate was issued from the Kedah Islamic Affairs Department when the ceremony was held in Kuala Lumpur at an undisclosed location purportedly attended by 10-15 people.

"When I spoke to one of them (Monday) evening, he said he knew of the document being false but I didn't wish to ask why he had issued such a document. He must have had his own reasons.

"I don't like to doubt people, it's not my nature to be suspicious of others. These are religious people and I have no reason to doubt their sincerity.

"Furthermore, as a Muslim convert, I too know the marriage rites."

"Just be patient. Soon you will know more about this whole thing," he said, denying that it was a sham marriage or that it had been a possible con-job.

"As a father, I will never do anything to harm my daughter. Never. My wife is very upset and she gave them a tongue-lashing already."

Mohd Farid said he had given the police the contact numbers of the two men.