Damaging a repossessed car is a crime, says police – avoid getting involved with sambung bayar cars

According to the Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID), it is a criminal act for defaulters of car loans should not damage the vehicles that are about to be repossessed. This is because the vehicle purchased via loan was officially owned by other parties such as banks or financial institutions.

Bukit Aman CCID director Comm Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf told the The Star, “it is not a commercial crime per se, but it falls under Section 427 of the Penal Code for committing mischief that causes loss or damage. People should not resort to such action as it will be detrimental to them in the end.”

He was commenting on a recent viral video showing a woman and a man damaging a car being repossessed. Based on the social media post, it was revealed that one of the people seen in the video was the car owner who apparently failed to make loan repayments for eight months, which resulted in the car being repossessed.

However, it was later clarified that the person had indeed been meeting the monthly repayments, although instead of paying directly to the bank, he had sent the payment to the original car owner, who was actually the one who had failed to make the loan repayments.

Damaging a repossessed car is a crime, says police – avoid getting involved with sambung bayar cars

Such a scenario is indicative of a sambung bayar situation, which comes with its legal issues and can go sour. You should avoid sambung bayar contracts as they are not legally valid, even if it was drawn up by a lawyer.

Speaking to the news outlet, Malaysians Against Rape, Assault and Snatch Thief (Marah) founder Dave Avran said, “in the case of the (viral video), the buyer paid the owner, but the owner did not pay the bank. Even if the buyer pays directly to the bank, the owner can legally withhold the name transfer.”.

“Hence, the owner can demand the return of the car at any time, or demand money for the name transfer or in worst case scenario, outright refuse to transfer the name. It is best to buy a car within your financial means and deal directly with the bank,” he added.

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