Latheefa Koya is looking to having more qualified women appointed to the MACC to balance the gender scales.

"As head of department, I can make internal policies in that direction," the MACC chief said in an interview with Utusan Malaysia published today.

"I admit there is an imbalance in terms of gender, and I believe there are many women with merit to hold certain posts. I would like to provide that opportunity."

Latheefa stressed, however, that staffing at MACC will be based on merit and not merely on gender.

"In terms of senior officers, there are many grades, so there is definitely a lack (of women) in the top posts," she added.

In the same interview, Latheefa explained that the caution practised when releasing information on graft cases was to prevent the MACC from being exploited by others.

"Sometimes, the MACC can be used to make it (the information) appear as slander or accusation against certain persons.

"It can be misused, exploited. That is why we take the approach that if a person in a case has yet to be charged, we will not play up the issue and our operations cannot be shared," she said.

Latheefa added that the MACC would only confirm matters based on facts, such as if there has been an arrest, and would not comment on accusations.

"If there are any accusations, we will only inform (the media) after investigations and when we are prepared to charge (the suspect)."

Latheefa said this was to avoid any early (release of) information being used to defame anyone.