Hin Leong's OK Lim Testifies in Cheating and Forgery Case

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Tuesday October 31, 2023

Lim Oon Kuin, the founder of collapsed Singapore oil trading firm Hin Leong Trading, has testified in his defence in court this week over cheating and forgery charges.

Lim faces two charges of cheating lender HSBC, and one of instigating a Hin Leong contracts executive to forge a false record, Channel News Asia reported. The charges involve $111.7 million.

Lim said a number of interconnected companies worked together under the same umbrella, according to the report.

"These companies are owned by our families, so it's like, sometimes if one company needs anything, the other will help," Lim was cited as saying.

"For example, if one company needs funds, the other company will then send the funds over. It is like our left pocket and right pocket.

"It's a family business."

The trial continues. Lim is also a defendant in two civil cases.

The firm's more than 20 creditors, including HSBC, are owed a total of about $3.5 billion.

Hin Leong collapsed in 2020 in the wake of that year's crude-price crash and allegations of forged documents being used to secure funding from banks. The firm and its subsidiary Ocean Bunkering Services, formerly one of Singapore's top marine fuel suppliers, has been wound up.

Ship & Bunker News Team
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