Parking attendant declared bankrupt

KUALA LUMPUR: A parking attendant, who claimed that her stolen identity card was used to buy a Toyota Estima car, was declared bankrupt Tuesday after Bank Muamalat Malaysia Berhad sued her for failing to settled the car loan.

Halimaton Din, 41, a mother of five, who could not afford the services of a lawyer, cried outside the court after the order was made.

She told reporters that senior assistant registrar made the order in chambers after disallowing a further postponement of the case and advised her to engage counsel.

Counsel Mohamad Fahmi Mat Radzi, for Bank Muamalat Malaysia Berhad, said the bank filed the debtors petition against Halimaton to recover the RM167,170.11 owed as of Feb 19, 2008.

The claim was for the purchase of a Toyota Estima 2.4, which Halimaton, who works at KL Sentral, said was bought by someone else using her stolen identity card.

Halimaton said a lawyer whom she contacted earlier wanted a fee of RM400 to handle the case but she could not afford it.

On Dec 18, 2007, she lodged a report at the Kajang district police station stating that her name had been used to buy a car and that she had been sued although she did not even have a driving licence. Her plight was highlighted in the mainstream media on Oct 24 last year.