MACC chief commissioner Azam Baki confirmed this with Bernama today. “Yes, the minister (Sivakumar) was asked to be present at MACC to give his statement,” he said.

Sivakumar was present at the MACC headquarters here today following the arrests of several of his officers in connection with a case involving the recruitment of foreign workers.

One of Sivakumar’s aides said the minister was at the MACC headquarters at 10am and left some 30 minutes later.

He had said yesterday that he was ready to cooperate with the authorities, especially MACC, over the matter, and had urged the public not to make any speculations about the arrests. He said the arrests are part of the investigation process once a complaint was lodged with MACC.

The commission recently arrested two of Sivakumar’s senior officers in connection with matters involving the recruitment of foreign workers. Sivakumar’s private secretary was arrested on Friday in an investigation into the approval of migrant worker quotas.