The MACC has refuted allegations of persecution by James Chai, stating its investigation and media briefing followed standard protocols
KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission has dismissed allegations by former minister Rafizi Ramli’s ex-aide, James Chai, that he was unfairly targeted by the agency.
In a statement, the MACC said Chai’s claims were inaccurate, misleading, and created a false public impression of its investigative procedures.
“The allegation that the MACC press conference was held solely to target Chai is entirely untrue and baseless,” it said.
The press conference was a regular monthly media briefing to update on several ongoing investigations.
These included Op Middlemen, an illegal e-waste case involving the Department of Environment, Op Heart concerning IJM, and Op Godfather related to Toh Puan Nai’mah Ab Khalid.
The MACC emphasised that issuing a Notice to Trace a witness is a standard investigative procedure.
Such a notice is only issued after failed attempts to contact an individual via phone, visits to their last known address, or other reasonable means.
“It must be emphasised that a Notice to Trace does not constitute a criminal accusation,” the commission clarified.
It is merely a step to locate individuals required to assist in an investigation.
In this case, 12 individuals, including a federal minister, had already been called in and cooperated.
“If Chai has nothing to hide, he should present himself and cooperate with the investigation,” the statement added.
The MACC said its investigating officer made several attempts to contact Chai, believed to be in the UK, starting February 24.
These attempts included messages via WhatsApp but received no response.
After several failed attempts, the officer’s number was blocked by Chai’s phone on February 26.
“The claim that MACC did not attempt to contact him before issuing the notice is completely untrue,” it stated.
Attempts to portray standard procedures as persecution are unwarranted and made in bad faith.
The MACC stressed that no one is above the law and that its professional, evidence-based investigations will continue.
It reminded individuals called to assist in probes to offer full cooperation and not evade authorities or create misleading narratives.