The star prosecution witness in the Anwar Ibrahim corruption trial, Ummi Hafilda Ali, was able to make overseas trips despite being declared a bankrupt last year because the Immigration Department was only officially notified to withhold her passport last month, Parliamentary Secretary in Prime Minister's Department Haji Noh Haji Omar told the Dewan Rakyat this morning.

Replying to a question from Abdul Rahman Yusof (KeADILan-Kemaman) as to why Ummi could travel overseas despite being a bankrupt, Haji Noh said that the Immigration Department's records revealed it only received an official letter of her bankruptcy notice from the Official Assignee Department (Pejabat Pemegang Hartanah) on Feb 24 this year.

"I hope that this matter does not arise again as we have clarified the issue in the Dewan numerous times," an obviously irate Haji Noh said.

He added that while it was true a bankrupt was not allowed to leave the country, the action does not automatically take effect as soon as advertisements appeared in the newspapers. Certain procedures had to be followed first, such as notifying the Immigration Department, Haji Noh said.

Ummi played a key role in the downfall of jailed deputy premier Anwar. Well-known for her candy-coloured suits during his trial, she was declared bankrupt in mid-1999 for failing to settle an RM300,000 business debt.

She, however, managed to give a surprise two-minute speech at Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's meet-the-students session in London on Jan 30 this year.

Defending her role in encouraging former driver Azizan Abu Bakar to accuse Anwar of sodomy, among other things, Ummi also told the 160-strong crowd at the Malaysian Hall that she was not part of Mahathir's delegation but had been in London on a business trip for a month prior to the premier's visit.

Meanwhile, to another question by Goh Siow Huat (BN-Rasah) as to what action may be taken by the government against those people declared bankrupt but who could still live in luxury - for instance, living in big bungalows and driving luxury cars - Haji Noh said that the government had guidelines on investigation of such cases.

"The department would first investigate to see whether the luxury home or vehicle is owned by the bankrupt or someone else. If it does not belong to the bankrupt, further investigation would be carried out to see if he had owned the said asset within the past five years," he answered.

Haji Noh added that if investigations revealed that the luxury car belonged to the bankrupt, the Road Transport Department will be notified to immediately blacklist the vehicle registration number so that no further transactions involving the vehicle takes place.

"The vehicle will then be sent to the RTD to be auctioned off. Whatever money collected from the auction will then be used to settle the vehicle loan with the finance and the balance to pay off the bankrupt's debts," he added.

A similar procedure was done in the case of a bankrupt who still owned a luxury house. The property will be confiscated and auctioned off to settle the loan and other debts incurred by the bankrupt.

Haji Noh also urged the people to report any cases of bankrupts known to be living in luxury homes and driving luxury cars to the department.

"They should give us details such as the vehicle registration number and house address of the bankrupt to assist us in our investigation," he said.

The PM's department recorded a total of 74,347 bankruptcy cases up till Nov last year. A total of 7,763 bankruptcy notices were issued from Jan to Nov 1999 as compared to 8,110 cases in 1998.