The remand order for Lebanese 'billionaire' Elie Youssef Najem was today extended for another five days until Jan 24.

Elie, 46, was discharged from Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL) yesterday and brought to the Kuala Lumpur magistrate's court this afternoon.

Magistrate Aini Zaini Azhar issued the remand extension for the businessman, who is represented by lawyer M Manoharan.

Elie was arrested on Sunday at his Putra Villa apartment in Kuala Lumpur in connection with fraud related cases by a team from the Bukit Aman federal police headquarters and city commercial crime division.

He was later admitted to HKL where a magistrate issued the initial remand order which expired today.

The self-professed billionaire is currently being held at the federal police headquarters.

Elie, who said he was suffering from brain tumour, courted controversy when he pledged a whopping RM1 billion donation to the National Cancer Council (Makna).

The businessman, who is married to a 19-year-old Malaysian, also claimed to be worth US$46 billion, making him one of the richest in the world.

His pledge made headlines but soon reports of him being an alleged fraud began to surface. It was also revealed that several police reports had been lodged against him.

Makna unaffected

Yesterday, Makna president Mohd Farid Ariffin said the council was not affected by this controversy and will continue to raise funds on its own to help poor cancer patients.

On the same note he said the council would not step up precautionary measures the next time someone pledged a huge donation.

"No, we won't change anything. Why should we just because of one person?" he stressed.

Asked if Makna was being used by some people to gain publicity, he replied: "If he wants to use us, it's not our fault. I cannot be responsible for the misbehaviour and misdemeanour of other people who have bad intentions."