Woman declared bankrupt claims identity theft

By LISA GOH

lisagoh@thestar.com.my
KUALA LUMPUR: A car park attendant was declared bankrupt by the High Court after she failed to settle a bank loan for a RM167,000 Toyota Estima which she claims she never bought.

High Court senior assistant registrar Zaiton Anuar declared Halimahton Din, 39, a bankrupt in chambers yesterday following a suit filed by Bank Muamalat (M) Bhd against her for defaulting on her car loan.

According to Halimahton, however, she had never made such a purchase and she believed someone was abusing her identity by using her stolen identity card.

“I never took a loan for such a car. I’ve never even been inside this car which I supposedly bought,” she told reporters later.

Her plight was highlighted last October by a Malay tabloid after she failed to get a bank loan for a second-hand car she wanted to buy.

“It was only then that I found out that I had a bankruptcy notice against me,” said the mother of five, who earns RM1,100 a month at KL Sentral.

Her husband works as an auxiliary police, also in KL Sentral.

Halimahton, who was in tears after the order was made, also said she could not afford her lawyer’s fees.

Counsel Mohamad Fahmi Mat Radzi who represented Bank Muamalat, said the bank filed the creditor’s petition against Halimahton to recover the RM167,170.11 owed as of Feb 19, 2008.