Rafizi had resigned from his ministerial post in May 2025 after failing to defend his deputy presidency in the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) internal polls while Tengku Zafrul’s tenure as minister ended in December.
Tengku Zafrul had served for two terms as a senator since 2020. He held the trade minister post throughout his term in the Senate, which is the maximum period allowed.
In a statement issued earlier on Wednesday, the MACC had said it was tracking down Chai Jin Shern, also known as James Chai, and had appealed to the public to provide any information on his whereabouts.
Azam said later during the press conference that they had yet to get a response from Chai who is currently in the United Kingdom.
“In this matter, we won’t let any parties manipulate this issue. We will investigate this issue fairly and professionally. And we hope everyone is patient in waiting for the conclusion of the investigation,” said Azam without revealing further details.
When pressed further, Azam said that Chai was not a witness, but that he was “wanted” by the MACC for now.
“We want to get his statement on his appointment after he left a ministry and is now working with a company that has interests in the project,” said Azam.
Chai served as Rafizi’s special officer at the Economy Ministry. He left the ministry in June after Rafizi resigned. Chai is a political analyst and a law graduate from the University of Oxford. He is also a visiting fellow at Singapore’s ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute.
“I am a bit tired of state resources being used this way,” Chai was reported as saying by local news outlet Malaysiakini when asked about MACC’s notice on him.
CNA has separately also contacted Chai for comment.
Last week, local media reported that a MACC source had said that the economy ministry’s secretary-generawas among several witnesses the anti-graft agency would summon in its probe into a RM1.1 billion agreement between the government and a foreign firm.
Free Malaysia Today reported that the source had said the agreement had allegedly been pushed through in haste despite not having the agreement of the Finance Ministry and MITI.
The source also claimed that several individuals were allegedly given senior posts in the foreign company involved after they stopped working with the government.
Read the full article here
