Document reveals the Nine Network directly paid a former Australian soldier to snatch back two children in Lebanon

CHANNEL Nine paid US$500,000 to Ali Elamine in the official settlement registered with the prosecuting judge following their botched kidnapping attempt.

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EXCLUSIVE

CHANNEL Nine paid US$500,000 to Lebanese father Ali Elamine in the official settlement registered with the prosecuting judge following their botched kidnapping attempt, News Corp Australia has learned.

Further undisclosed monies were also paid directly to Elamine’s family to encourage him to drop charges against the 60 Minutes crew, a person close to the negotiations said.

The source said Elamine was initially offered $350,000, an amount he scoffed at. It wasn’t until Nine raised the prospect of an under the table amount that he became serious in the negotiations.

Meanwhile, proof has also emerged that the Nine Network directly paid tens of thousands of dollars to a former Australian soldier to snatch back Sally Faulkner’s two children in Beirut.

A payment slip provided to News Corp shows the network transferred $69,000 to a company connected to Child Abduction Recovery International (CARI).

The paperwork declares the payment came straight from a Nine bank account in Sydney in January and was for: “Investigation into my missing child.”

A second bank transfer is also believed to have been made, taking the network’s payments for the story to at least $115,000.

The report showing payment of $69,000 from TCN Channel Nine Pty Ltd to Adam Whittington. Picture: Supplied

Former soldier Adam Whittington, the founder of CARI, remained behind bars in Beirut as the 60 Minutes team are returning to their families tonight.

Mr Whittington’s lawyer, Joe Karam, slammed Nine over the botched recovery mission, accusing the network of hiring and then abandoning the would-be rescuer.

Adam Whittington's lawyer Joe Karam speaks to media outside the court in Baabda, Lebanon. Picture: Liam Kidston.

“Adam has not been respected at all. He has not been treated well at all,” Mr Karam said.

“They (Channel Nine) are afraid to come back.

“It is not appropriate for Channel Nine to arrange a deal and not include the men they asked to execute it.”

Mr Whittington’s colleague Craig Michael — a tattoo artist who once helped recover his own children after they were taken by their mother — and two Lebanese men are also still in jail in Beirut.

Another source close to the case was surprised at the speed at which the journalists “had escaped’’ Lebanon.

Adam Whittington and Craig Michael who are still behind bars. Picture: ITV

When asked about Mr Whittington yesterday, a spokeswoman for Channel Nine said: “We have nothing to do with Adam Whittington and the CARI team and we never did.”

News Corp has obtained copies of Mr Whittington’s service records which show he was a private in the Australian Army who enlisted on 26 July 1994 and was discharged on 31 August 1998.

His four years in the military included time in the 1st Recruit Training Battalion, the School of Infantry, the Second Battalion Royal Australian Regiment and the Royal Military College.

A photo of the service records of Adam Whittington. Picture: Supplied

However he entered Beirut on a British passport and has complained that he was given no assistance from the Australian embassy while officials pampered the Nine team.

The bank paperwork shows TCN Channel Nine made the first payment to “IPCA Limited” in Stockholm, Sweden, on January 22.

The company belongs to Mr Whittington and has the same Swedish post office address as the CARI business he also runs.

— additional reporting Holly Byrnes.