Speaking in a press conference at the anti-graft agency’s headquarters, Azam said Ismail was being called in as a suspect, not a witness, in the ongoing investigation.

“As such, MACC will record an additional statement from Ismail, subject to his health status.

“This is expected to take place on Wednesday, a day from now. We will focus on his asset declaration and matters related to the ongoing investigation,” he said.

Yesterday, MACC said about RM170 million in cash and 16kg of gold bars worth millions of ringgit had been seized in an investigation into four senior officers linked to Ismail.

The cash and gold were recovered in raids conducted at the residences of the four officers and three other premises believed to be “safe houses”.

The Bera MP, who was first summoned on Feb 19, also declared his assets as part of a probe into the spending and funding for promotional and publicity purposes during his tenure as head of the government from August 2021 to November 2022.

According to Azam, 13 bank accounts holding around RM2 million have been frozen.

However, he said the Yayasan Keluarga Malaysia account had not been frozen as it was an active institutional account, not a personal one.

He said Ismail’s account remained under investigation.

Azam also revealed that 31 witnesses had been questioned in the case so far, “at least two to three” of whom were politicians.

He reiterated that MACC was conducting the probe professionally and independently, dismissing allegations of selective prosecution.

“We investigate professionally and fairly, without considering status or position. There are no instructions from anybody. We acted on our own, based on our own investigation,” he said.