Former premier's aide Matthias Chang has threatened to cite the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chief Shahrir Samad for contempt of court if the committee proceeds to meet tomorrow to continue its probe into the controversial merger of ECM Libra and Avenue Capital Resources.

Shahrir (left) confirmed today he had received a letter from Chang's lawyer last Friday demanding the meeting to be called off on the ground that its discussion could be subjudice to an on-going civil suit involving Chang.

"The letter stated that Chang was concerned with the statements I'd made in the last PAC meeting on the ECM Libra-Avenue merger and demanded that I cancel tomorrow's meeting or he would cite me for contempt of court," said Shahrir when contacted today.

Shahrir had at the last PAC meeting said that the merger had met all statutory regulations.

According to the PAC chief, the legal letter appeared to be a pre-emptive move by Chang "because he doesn't know what we are discussing tomorrow".

Shahrir said tomorrow's meeting will take place as scheduled and he would not reply to Chang's letter. However, he said the Finance Ministry, which has received a similar letter from Chang, will send Chang an official reply.

The PAC has called the Finance Ministry and Securities Commission officials to its last meeting on Aug 10 as part of its probe into the merger between ECM Libra, an investment advisory group and Avenue Capital, a government-owned financial services company.

The meeting, among others, found that the merger had been done in accordance to all statutory regulations but the PAC is also examining whether there was a conflict of interest involving Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's son-in-law Khairy Jamaluddin, who held shares in ECM Libra.

The PAC is also concerned whether the government would be losing its controlling stake in Avenue Capital in the wake of the merger, in which the large government-linked company is being "swallowed up" by a much smaller private firm.

Chang vs Kali

Shahrir, who is member of parliament of Johor Baru, stressed that it was PAC's responsibility to check on whether government funds are properly spent.

"Our objectives is to check the impact of the merger as it involved public funds and the decision-making process leading to the government investing in Avenue Capital," Shahrir explained.

He said tomorrow's meeting will focus on the government's investment in Avenue Capital as part of its investigation into the controversial merger.

However, Shahrir has offered Chang's lawyer to attend the PAC meeting tomorrow. He said the committee could stop any discussion on matters which the lawyer deems as subjudice.

Chang (right), a political aide for ex-premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad, has been embroiled in a RM50 million civil suit by Kalimullah Masheerul Hassan - who is New Straits Times Press deputy chairperson and ECM Libra chairperson - and a RM100 million counter-claim by Chang.

The suits were over defamatory remarks claimed by both parties in which Chang's affidavit, among others, touched on the ECM Libra-Avenue merger.

Chang has earlier also questioned how Khairy raised RM9.2 million to acquire a three percent stake in ECM Libra. The rising Umno politician has since sold his shares after facing intense criticism.

Chang declined comment when contacted this afternoon.