TYRE, Lebanon: Those who know wealthy Lebanese financier Salah Ezz el-Din say he is a deeply pious, humble man whose close links to Hezbollah made his credentials impeccable as he allegedly embezzled their savings.

Many Lebanese investors find it hard to believe the philanthropist could have defrauded them to the tune of at least $500 million — small change compared with the $65 billion in the US fraudster Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, but made more painful by the connection with Hezbollah, which its followers regard as incorruptible.

“Whoever says he’s a thief, that is an incorrect assessment,” said Fouad Ajami, a 36-year-old steel factory owner from the southern Lebanese village of Toura of the embezzlement charges made earlier this month against Ezz el-Din, who is now in Roumieh prison and due for more questioning on Sept. 24.

The charges include issuing checks without sufficient funds.

“He was a do-gooder, he may have been subjected to a financial setback,” said Ajami. “And because he didn’t want to show that, maybe he created ghost investments to cover his losses.” Some Hezbollah officials have also lost money with the financier, from whom Ajami said he had at first received returns of 30 percent annually. Among what meager paperwork the factory owner has retained are two checks worth a combined $675,500 that bounced, with “CANCELLED” stamped in red. He says he personally lost more than $500,000 to Ezz el-Din, whose holdings included a tour company that arranged for pilgrims to go on the annual Haj pilgrimage to Makkah.

The financier lived in the village of Ma’aroub in southern Lebanon, the political and guerrilla group’s bastion, which benefited from his goodwill with the construction of mosques and a football ground.

Ezz el-Din was also said to pay for fellow villagers’ medical bills, compounding the Hezbollah connection for many people. Hezbollah also provides a network of social welfare services from education grants to subsidized medical treatment.

“To tell you the truth, people put their money with him because he was wearing the Hezbollah cloak,” Ajami said.

Hezbollah has a reputation for squeaky-clean honesty among its followers and famously compensated residents in southern Lebanon with $100-bill stuffed suitcases after the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war. That connection has been a political embarrassment, forcing Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah to address the issue. He denied any official connection to the financier but promised to set up a crisis center to assess the needs of those affected.

“Hezbollah is one of those affected by the crisis, but it won’t leave the people to their destinies. Actually, it creates an environment that will protect them security-wise, politically ... and even economically,” Nasrallah was quoted by local media as saying.

This may be a reason why for now at least, many duped investors have refrained from filing lawsuits against Ezz el-Din and his partner Yousef Fa’our.

Political sources say Ezz el-Din’s cover was blown after a Qatari investor who wanted $9 million suspected him of stalling.

Hezbollah officials privately say they suspect him of fraud.

Part of Ezz el-Din’s appeal was that he promised large returns on investments which he said were from oil and gas, iron and steel projects outside Lebanon.