KUALA LUMPUR: The lawyer who had gone missing since July after being hounded by 31 loan sharks, has come out to tell his side of the story.

Mohd Yazli Yaacob, 38, the husband of popular actress Wan Nor Azlin Wan Mohd Husain, said he had not run away from his responsibilities, but had to get away to sort out the mess he was in.

He said it all began when he borrowed RM30,000 for a friend.

They could not service the loan, and Mohd Yazli borrowed another RM100,000 from loan sharks.

Yazli said even though he had paid most of the money, with an interest rate of RM5,000 per day, his debt is now more than RM300,000.
Unable to take the daily harassment and threatening calls, Yazli even sought protection from gangsters.

But this, he said, only worsened his problem when the gangsters allegedly demanded RM50,000 for their services.

He now has to handle both the loan sharks and the gangsters, who he claimed are harassing him daily.

"I have exhausted all my savings. I cannot face my family and friends," he said at a press conference arranged by the Muslim Consumers Association of Malaysia (PPIM) yesterday.

Yazli, however, said he was not blaming the friends for whom he borrowed the money as they themselves were struggling to make ends meet.

He said he last paid the loan sharks in June.

Last week, his Mercedes Benz S320 was forcibly taken away by some men. He claimed he did not know who they were.

Yazli who initially was calm and collected, was on the verge of breaking down when asked about his wife and children, whom he had allegedly left when the Ah Long problems began.

"Let me settle this and I will go back to them," he said.

Earlier this month, Wan Nor Azlin had sought the help of the MCA Public Services and Complaints Department urging her husband to return and face the problem.

She had also lodged several police reports on the loan sharks who were harassing her after the husband went missing on July 10.

The loan sharks had pasted offensive posters and photocopies of Mohd Yazli's identity card on the gates of her house.

They had also splashed paint on her car and house on July 30.

Mohd Yazli claimed that by going public, his wife had portrayed him as an irresponsible man.

Meanwhile, PPIM secretary-general Datuk Dr Ma'amor Osman urged police to investigate the case as Mohd Yazli had provided the names in his police report.