Every cancer patient is hoping that Lebanese 'billionaire' Elie Yousef Najem would donate the RMI billion he pledged for the National Cancer Council (Makna), said its president Farid Ariffin today.

However, he refused to confirm if the money had come in.

"Don't ask me anything, I don't know anything about that matter. Cancer patients will continue to pray that Elie is honest and donate," he was quoted as saying by Bernama .

Farid ( left ) was speaking to reporters after signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Makna, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Jobstreet.com and the Penang Free School Foundation in Penang.

He was asked to comment on recent news reports which quoted the controversial businessman as saying that a portion of the money would be credited into Makna's account this week.

"I have never contacted anyone over the past few days because I switched off my mobile phone. I haven't contacted Elie in four days," he said.

Many promises

According to Farid, it was not only the businessman who made such pledges but many other quarters had also promised millions in aid of Makna.

Elie, who is married to a 19-year-old Malaysian, made headlines when he pledged RM1 billion for Makna but soon after reports of him being an alleged fraud began to surface.

The 46-year-old businessman who claimed to be worth US$46 billion - making him among the richest in the world - was subsequently arrested in connection with cheating cases. He was later released on bail.

Today's MoU between Makna and USM would pave the way for the council to use the university's expertise in microcredit to enable poor cancer patients in this country to secure financial assistance from the fund set-up by Makna.

Farid said there are at least 90,000 cancer patients in Malaysia and each patient needs between RM30,000 and RM70,000 for treatment.

Makna has so far collected RM90 million and has spent RM40 million.