Asia/Pacific News
Hin Leong Founder's Family May Be Allowed to Keep $75 Million in Assets
The family of Lim Oon Kuin (OK Lim), founder of troubled Singapore oil trading firm Hin Leong, may be allowed to keep as much as $75 million worth of their assets, according to price reporting agency General Index, as the company's creditors sue them for $3.5 billion.
The family may be allowed to retain 5% of their assets, estimated at up to $1.5 billion, General Index reported Wednesday, citing market sources.
Earlier this week Singapore newspaper the Straits Times reported that PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the firm appointed by a court as Hin Leong's interim judicial managers, is suing OK Lim and his two children for $3.5 billion.
PwC accuses the family of "deliberately concealing [Hin Leong's] losses and portraying it as a profitable company when it was in fact massively insolvent," the newspaper said.
OK Lim is out on $3 million bail, the newspaper reported, after being arrested earlier this month and charged with fraud.
The charge related to a gasoil trade with China Aviation Oil (Singapore) Corporation Ltd, with police alleging a forged document was used to secure more than $56 million of trade financing.
Hin Leong is the parent company of one of Singapore's largest marine fuel suppliers, Ocean Bunkering.
