I had a very cheerful but firm lady-boss client (let's call her "Stella"). She had already won a RM500,000 judgment against a trading company. But months later, she hadn’t received a single sen.
She texted me late one night:
“Rudi, I've been fighting this one case for over a year. My previous lawyer already got the judgment and sent a demand. But they still won’t pay. I spent over RM60k on legal fees for nothing!”
I asked the obvious question:
“Did your lawyer not advise you on enforcement proceedings?”
She replied,
“No. What’s that?”
I explained that winning a judgment is only half the battle. To actually recover money, you must "enforce" it; usually through one of four main methods:
Garnishee proceedings (to freeze and withdraw bank funds)
Writ of seizure and sale (to seize assets)
Judgment debtor summons (to examine ability to pay)
Winding up or bankruptcy (to compel payment through insolvency laws)
Stella in turn, asked an equally obvious question:
“Which is the fastest and cheapest way?”
“Garnishee. Freeze the debtor’s bank accounts and withdraw the balance up to your judgment sum. Confirmed quickest and most cost-effective route.”
Then came her worry:
“Okay, but I don’t have their bank account details. How to do this?”
I told her we just needed to know which banks the debtor used. No need for the exact account numbers.
I told her to follow my lead; and we did three things:
1. Checked SSM MyDATA Forms:
The company’s annual report mentioned “Bank: Maybank (Main Account).” That was our first lead.
2. Reviewed old payment slips.
Stella found a transfer receipt showing “Beneficiary: XXX Trading (Public Bank).” Now we had two banks!
3. Examined past invoices and quotations.
They listed another account; with CIMB.
Armed with this information, we filed ex-parte garnishee applications against all three banks.
A few weeks later, the court granted the orders.
Funds from two of the accounts were enough to fully settle the judgment.
No need bank account number. Just a bit of resourceful detective work and the right enforcement strategy.
Rudi Cheu (rudi@rulecolaw.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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