Nine 'paid $500,000' to children's father to settle 'botched kidnapping' case and secure news crew release

Channel Nine reportedly paid US$500,000 to Ali Elamine, in an official settlement following a botched kidnapping attempt.

The 60 Minutes TV crew arrived back in Sydney on Thursday night, two weeks after they were detained in Lebanon over the child abduction attempt.

News Corp reports the settlement with Elamine was registered with the prosecuting judge and additional money was also paid to Elamine’s family to encourage him to drop charges against the 60 Minutes crew.

A source close to the negotiation said Elamine was initially offered $350,000, but he scoffed at the amount.

When an under the table amount was proposed, he reportedly became serious about the negotiations.

Proof has also emerged that Nine 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 shows the network transferred $69,000 to a company which was connected to Child Abduction Recovery International (CARI).

The paperwork also declares the payment came straight from a Nine bank account in Sydney in January.

It stated it was for “Investigation into my missing child.”

A second bank transfer was also reportedly made, suggesting the network paid at least $115,000 for the story.
Met by a flurry of flashes and microphones the 60 Minutes crew, including presenter Tara Brown, touched down just after 10pm on Thursday.

They entered the arrivals area more than an hour later to a crowd comprised mostly of media professionals.

Ms Brown, bearing a huge grin, commented briefly that she was "just so glad to be home," before she and her fellow crew members - producer Stephen Rice, sound recordist David Ballmen and cameraman Ben Williamson - were taken promptly from the airport in a black van.

As the TV crew celebrated their release with glasses of champagne before they flew business class back to Australia, a New South Wales family was struggling to come to terms with the fact that their son may not be home for a long, long time.

The company of Adam Whittington, a Sydney-born former Australia soldier, was hired by the Nine Network to snatch two children from the care of their father amid a custody dispute with their Australian mother.

After paying him $69,000 to complete the task, the Nine Network seemingly abandoned the recovery agents by leaving them behind in the Beirut jail.

"They've just walked away from him. And yet they employed him,” Adam’s father David Whittington told 7 News.

Adam’s emotional mother Georgina said the ordeal has been a nightmare.

"Last night I was dreaming and all I can see is 10 years, 20 years, five years, is how long he's gonna be there,” she said tearfully.

The father-of-two runs Child Abduction Recovery International (CARI) in Lebanon and was tasked with snatching two children from the care of their father amid a nasty custody battle with their Brisbane mother, Sally Faulkner.

Mrs Faulkner also walked free on Wednesday, after relinquishing custody of her kids to their father, Mr Elamine.

Now Adam and three other recovery agents are the only parties who remain behind bars, as they are left to face punishment on their own.

Celebratory photos from the 60 Minutes crew caused a backlash from the public, with many concerned Adam and his colleagues had been abandoned.

Seven West Media Director Jeff Kennett labelled the network as ‘immoral’.

"Most of us would see Channel Nine's actions as setting themselves up to be the law enforcers of the world,” he said.

In a staff email, Nine's Chief Executive defends his network, but acknowledges: “We did become part of the story... we shouldn't have”.

Former 60 Minutes Chief, Gerald Stone, has been asked to head an inquiry into the incident.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull made comment on the case during a press conference, in which he suggested Channel Nine should have known better.

• Tara Brown plays down confronting photos of her being bundled into police car handcuffed

• 'I would have been shot, called a terrorist': Father of children involved in botched child abduction speaks out

• 60 Minutes crew in 'good spirits'

“All Australians, regardless of what they do or who they work for, should recognise when they are outside of Australia, they must obey the laws of the country which, in which they are visiting,’ he said.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop agreed, making similar remakes to the media.

"The lesson from it is, we have to abide by the laws of other countries."

The TV crew’s freedom from Beirut is rumoured to have been a million-dollar deal, sparking even more questions from the public.

Former opposition leader Mark Latham said he wanted to know where the money was going.

"You really don't know who's getting the money. Is it the father, is it Hezbollah, is it some local public official?”

The Corporate Regulator said it would only investigate after Federal Police established a case, however the AFP said it will not be investigating the matter.

Adam is a dual national and it is believed British authorities are handling his case.