Lebanese ‘Billionaire’ Caught With US$66.2 Million Counterfeit Currency
Malaysian police have arrested (Lebanese) self-proclaimed billionaire Elie Youseff Najem, for allegedly carrying fake currency with a face value of $66 million after he tipped a hotel staff with a $500 note, an official said Friday.
The largest U.S. note currently in wide circulation is a $100 bill. But police found bundles of $1 million, $100,000 and $500 notes in the man’s hotel room in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday.Hotel staff alerted police after a housekeeper received a $500 note tip and found out it was fake when she tried to convert it to local currency at a money changer.
The largest U.S. note ever printed was a special edition one for $100,000 in 1934. Bills of $500 were last printed in 1945 
and are now no longer in wide circulation, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.
Controversy has always followed Elie. He first claimed that he was worth RM175 billion, exceeding the net worth of renowned American investor Warren Buffet even.
He entered Malaysia in June 2005, and early the following year made headlines by claiming to be a cancer-stricken Lebanese billionaire who had pledged US$275 million (about RM1.02 billion) to the National Cancer Council (Makna).
Elie Youseff Najem
He went on to create further controversy, claiming to have helped in the construction of the Penang Bridge by extending RM7.6 billion to the main contractor which was not true.
In July 2009, his lover, a 22 year-old Filipino, was found dead, naked on the ground floor of their apartment block after falling from the 14 floor. In his police report, Elie said the woman was unstable, and that she had committed suicide.
His antics have not raised controversy in Malaysia alone. It was also reported in a Lebanese newspaper, The Daily Star, that he had made similar promises in his homeland.
He had said he would donate US$10 million (RM36.8 million) to the Lebanese Red Cross and US$2 million (RM7.3 million) to the Batroun Red Cross.
He had also pledged to buy 16 fighter jets for the Lebanese Air Force and to develop a beach resort in the coastal city of Jounieh.
Its amazing how (at the time of this post) Elie is still a free man!