SINGAPORE: Lim Oon Kuin, the elderly founder of collapsed oil trading firm Hin Leong Trading, was on Monday (Nov 18) sentenced to 17-and-a-half years in jail in a cheating case involving at least US$111.7 million (S$150 million).
The 82-year-old, also known as OK Lim, had orchestrated one of the most serious cases of trade financing fraud in Singapore, the prosecution previously told the court.
Lim faced more than 100 charges and contested them at trial, but was convicted of two charges of cheating the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) and one count of abetting forgery.
His conviction involved two bogus transactions for the sale of oil, and the submission of forged documents that led HSBC to disburse at least US$111.7 million in loans to Hin Leong.
On Monday, Lim’s lawyer said that his client will appeal against the sentence.
Deputy Public Prosecutors Christopher Ong, Kelvin Chong and Foo Shi Hao sought 20 years’ jail for Lim. They previously argued that his charges were “examples of the worst possible kinds of cheating” and could undermine confidence in Singapore’s oil trading industry.
They also said no weight should be given to Lim’s age or his medical conditions given the gravity of his offences.
Lim is represented by a team of lawyers from Davinder Singh Chambers, who asked for a jail term of seven years.
Senior Counsel Davinder Singh previously argued there were “very serious gaps” in a letter from the prison service, which the prosecution used in saying that Lim’s needs can be met in jail.
The letter did not address all of Lim’s medical conditions, which include anxiety, depression, insomnia, a large prostate, asthma, coronary artery disease and cerebral vascular disease with cognitive impairment, Mr Singh said.
Lim’s trial, which started in April 2023, centred on who had directed Hin Leong staff to prepare the documents that made it seem like the oil trader had entered into two bogus transactions.
In May, Principal District Judge Toh Han Li delivered his judgment that Lim had directed his employees to forge the documents for the two purported transactions in March 2020.
Lim was the managing director and 75 per cent shareholder of Hin Leong, an oil trading company incorporated in Singapore, at the time of the offences.
Judge Toh found that Lim continued to be the “big boss” of Hin Leong even after stepping down in April 2020, that he was “hands on” and that his approval was required for trades.
Lim was also embroiled in a civil trial brought by liquidators against the Lim family. This concluded after Lim and his two children consented to a judgment of US$3.5 billion being entered against them.
In September, Lim, his daughter Lim Huey Ching and his son Evan Lim Chee Meng also said that they will file for bankruptcy as they do not have enough assets to pay their claimants.
