“If James Chai has nothing to hide, he should present himself and cooperate with the investigation.”
KUALA LUMPUR (March 5): The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has refuted recent claims made by Chai Jin Shern (James Chai) as inaccurate and misleading, while specifically dismissing as "completely untrue" his assertion that the commission failed to contact him before issuing a notice to trace him.
In a strongly-worded statement on Thursday, the anti-graft agency revealed that investigating officers made several attempts to reach Chai, who had been traced to the United Kingdom, beginning Feb 24, 2026 via WhatsApp, but received no response.
After multiple unsuccessful attempts, the investigating officer's number was eventually blocked by Chai's telephone number on Feb 26, 2026.
"Therefore, the claim that the MACC did not attempt to contact him before issuing the notice is completely untrue.
"Attempts to portray normal investigative procedures as acts of persecution against an individual are unwarranted and made in bad faith," the anti-graft agency said.
The MACC also firmly denied that its recent press briefing was specifically "targeted" at him, clarifying that the conference was its regular monthly media briefing covering multiple ongoing investigations including Op Middlemen, the illegal e-waste case, Op Heart, investigations involving IJM, and Op Godfather.
The commission emphasised that a notice to trace an individual is a standard investigative procedure used by enforcement agencies, issued only after various efforts to contact the individual have failed, and does not constitute a criminal accusation.
"MACC reiterates that the commission strictly adheres to the principle of 'presumption of innocence', meaning that a person is considered innocent until proven otherwise. Therefore, being called to assist in an investigation does not mean that the person is guilty or has committed an offence."
The MACC noted that it issues between two to five such notices weekly and that 12 individuals, including a federal minister, have already cooperated in this investigation.
"If James Chai has nothing to hide, he should present himself and cooperate with the investigation," the commission said.
"MACC wishes to emphasise that no one is above the law. The investigation will continue to be conducted professionally and based on evidence, and any individual called to assist in an investigation should provide full cooperation to the authorities rather than evade the process or deliberately create misleading public narratives," it added.