Legal

Founder OK Lim grilled by prosecutors on his involvement at Hin Leong Trading

Prosecutors accused Lim, who is accused of alleged cheating and forgery charges involving USD 111.7 million (SGD 148.7 million), of lying and playing down his involvement in the company’s dealings.

Published

1 year ago

November 22, 2023

Admin

Prosecutors grilled Hin Leong Trading (Pte) Ltd Founder Lim Oon Kuin, who is accused of alleged cheating and forgery charges involving USD 111.7 million (SGD 148.7 million), over his role in the company at the Singapore State Courts on Monday (20 November), according to The Business Times.

Prosecutors accused him of lying and playing down his involvement in the company’s dealings.

During cross-examination, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Christopher Ong questioned Lim of his involvement in the company’s day-to-day operations until he stepped down as the managing direction in April 2020.

Lim said Hin Leong traders would inform him only “as a matter of formality” when asked if he would give approval to them for trades they conducted.

“If the deal is profitable and they are earning money for the company, of course they can do (the deals). They just informed me as a matter of formality that they have completed the deal,” Lim said as quoted by The Business Times.

In June, Hin Leong’s general manager for trading Wong See Meng had testified in court that he would get approval or in-principle approval from Lim or members of the Lim family for any deal that he wished to carry out. He added that he would get approval from Lim for deals involving gas oil and aviation fuel.

When asked by DPP Ong whether Wong had asked Lim for directions on whether sale deals should proceed, Lim disagreed.

Lim said: “He is holding such a senior position. If he needed to ask me before he could proceed, then what is the point of employing him?”

DPP Ong then suggested that Lim was lying when he said he did not approve the trades that Hin Leong conducted. Lim disagreed.

Lim also denied knowing what the term “discounting” meant when queried on discounting facilities that Hin Leong had with several banks including HSBC.

DPP Ong asked Lim whether he was aware that Hin Leong had a facility with HSBC where Hin Leong could present invoices for oil sales that it had made, and the bank would pay the company before payment from the buyer was due.

Lim said such things were “accounts matters”, and that he was never involved in accounts matters.

“I put it to you that your claim not to have known what discounting was, all the way up to April 12, 2020, is completely incredible,” DPP Ong said, to which Lim disagreed.

DPP Ong suggested that Lim knew about discounting “long before” 2020.

“I put it to you that you are lying about when and how you found out about the two discounting applications that had been made to HSBC,” DPP Ong said. Lim disagreed.

DPP Ong then suggested that Lim was “making up” evidence that his former personal assistant Serene Seng, whose last position at Hin Leong was manager of corporate affairs, approached him to do more trades when Hin Leong’s cashflows were low.

“I put it to you that you are trying to pretend that you had no involvement in dealing with Hin Leong’s low cash situations when they occurred,” said DPP Ong, to which Lim disagreed.

In April, the Singapore State Court heard Seng confess to lying during investigations by Commercial Affairs Department (CAD), when she said she was unable to recall events connected to a transaction that is related to Lim Oon Kuin’s criminal charges.

The 61-year-old who had worked at Hin Leong Trading for close to 30 years and whose last position was Manager of Corporate Affairs, testified against her former boss, Lim.

More than 100 other charges against Lim have been put on hold while this trial is in progress.

The 81-year-old went on trial when prosecution proceeded on three charges out of the total of 130 charges: Two counts of cheating the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) and one count of instigating a contracts executive of Hin Leong Trading to forge a false record.

The 130 charges were for the offences of cheating, abetment of forgery of a valuable security, and abetment of forgery.

The three charges relate to HSBC previously alleging Lim had falsified documents in order to obtain credit from the bank. In October, HSBC filed for legal action against the Lim family and a Hin Leong employee to recover USD 85.3 million of its USD 111.7 million exposure to Hin Leong.

In its filing, HSBC alleged that it was “fraudulently deceived” into lending USD 111.7 million by signing off a forged invoice for cargo sold to China Aviation Oil (CAO) for USD 56 million, the other for cargo sold to Unipec Singapore for USD 55.7 million.

An extensive coverage by Singapore bunkering publication Manifold Times regarding the fall of Hin Leong can be found below:

Photo credit: Manifold Times
Published: 22 November, 2023

Related Topics:Legal - Corruption Legal - Crime

Up Next

PIER71 event showcases Singapore maritime digitalisation, decarbonisation solution startups

Don't Miss

VPS: Using data to improve fuel procurement and fuel efficiency

Legal

Singapore: Charges against Founder of Zenrock abated following his death

Xie Chun and his former Operations Executive, Zhang Taiming, were charged in 2022 for offences relating to cheating, criminal breach of trust, and forgery involving more than USD105 million.

Published

3 days ago

January 16, 2025

Admin

Singapore’s court proceedings over multiple charges against the founder of Singapore-based oil trading firm Zenrock Commodities have come to an end following his death, The Straits Times reported on Wednesday (15 January).

The charges against Xie Chun, who was accused of several offences including cheating, were abated after a pre-trial conference on 9 January.

An Attorney-General’s Chambers spokesperson told The Straits Times that the criminal charges against were abated following an application of the defence after Xie Chun passed away on 3 January.

No details of his death were revealed by the spokesperson.

In 2020, HSBC accused Zenrock of dishonestly obtaining multiple sources of financing for crude cargoes.

HSBC filed a court application on 4 May to place Zenrock under judicial management, a form of debt restructuring, to recover funds it said it is owed.

In 2022, Singapore Police Force charged Xie, who was also the former Director of Zenrock, and his former Operations Executive, Zhang Taiming, for offences relating to cheating, criminal breach of trust, and forgery involving more than USD105 million.

Investigations by the Commercial Affairs Department of the SPF revealed that sometime between February and March 2020, Xie and Zhang Taiming had allegedly used forged documents to cheat the Bank of China Limited (Singapore) of a sum of USD54 million.

Both Xie and Zhang Taiming are also alleged to have committed criminal breach of trust by dishonestly re-assigning to the Bank of China Limited (Singapore) the proceeds from a sale of cargo oil that it had charged to Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (Singapore) and cheated Credit Agricole Corporate & Investment Bank of a sum of USD17 million.

A complete coverage of the events leading to the liquidation of ZenRock Commodities Trading has been arranged by Singapore bunker publication Manifold Times (in descending date order) below:

Related: Liquidators issue notice of intended dividend for ZenRock Commodities Trading
Related: Liquidators of Zenrock Commodities announce intended dividend to creditors
Related: Zenrock Commodities files for winding up order, hearing date set
Related: Singapore: High Court grant HSBC’s request to place Zenrock under judicial management
Related: Singapore: Troubled Zenrock Commodities rumoured to be winding down in August
Related: Update: Hearing date set for HSBC application to place Zenrock under judicial management
Related: Zenrock assents to HSBC’s application for it to be placed under judicial management
Related: Argus Media: HSBC accuses Singapore’s Zenrock of ‘suspicious’ trades
Related: HSBC accuses Zenrock of fraudulent dealings, files for legal action amid credit concerns
Related: Winson Group and ZenRock Commodities reassure fiscal stability despite Hin Leong fiasco

Photo credit: Ekaterina Bolovtsova
Published: 16 January, 2024

Business

Lloyd’s List Intelligence acquires Infospectrum to drive maritime risk intelligence solutions

Combined business will enable LLI to build solutions that deliver actionable insights and help maritime customers successfully navigate key use cases associated with compliance, risk management and operations.

Published

5 days ago

January 14, 2025

Admin

Lloyd’s List Intelligence acquires Infospectrum to drive maritime risk intelligence solutions

Maritime data, insights and analytics provider Lloyd’s List Intelligence (LLI) on Tuesday (14 January) announced the acquisition of Infospectrum, an independent provider of counterparty risk appraisal reports & data, due diligence research and KYC intelligence.

The acquisition expands LLI’s ability to deliver analysis and risk management intelligence solutions.

The integration of Infospectrum’s comprehensive counterparty risk appraisal, due diligence and KYC intelligence capabilities and data, will enable the combined business to provide customers with more accurate, reliable, and timely risk based decision-making solutions.

With the maritime sector facing increasing complexity from global sanctions, compliance, safety, geo-political and legal considerations, the combination will enable LLI to build solutions that deliver actionable insights and help customers successfully navigate key use cases associated with compliance, risk management and operations.

“The acquisition of Infospectrum is an important milestone for Lloyd’s List Intelligence,” said Michael Dell, CEO, Lloyd’s List Intelligence.

“This acquisition is a significant step forward in our mission to provide the most comprehensive and insightful risk intelligence solutions that support the global maritime industry. By combining our respective strengths, we will deliver stronger capabilities to our customers and enhance our ability to act as a provider of mission critical data, insights and analytics for the maritime sector as a whole.”

“We are excited to join forces with Lloyd’s List Intelligence,” said Panos Panousis, Managing Director, Infospectrum.

“This combination will unlock significant opportunities for both companies and provide the maritime ecosystem with access to a broader range of data, analytics, and intelligence. We are confident that together we will accelerate innovation and deliver exceptional solutions to the maritime industry.”

Photo credit: Lloyd’s List Intelligence
Published: 14 January, 2025

Legal

Shell MGO bunker heist: Bunker clerk gets jail time for helping Sentek acquire misappropriated fuel

Wong Wai Meng was sentenced to seven years, four months and two weeks’ jail on 10 January for helping the company acquire more than 28,000 mt of the misappropriated fuel worth USD 13.58 million.

Published

6 days ago

January 13, 2025

Admin

A bunker clerk, who was previously employed by Sentek Marine & Trading (Sentek), was sentenced to seven years, four months and two weeks’ jail for helping the company acquire more than 28,000 metric tonnes (mt) of the misappropriated fuel worth USD 13.58 million (SGD 18.26 million), The Straits Times reported on Friday (10 January).

Wong Wai Meng, was working for Singapore-based firm Sentek at the time of the offences.

Wong, who received more than USD 286,000 from the company for his assistance, pleaded guilty in November 2024 to 12 counts of intentionally helping the company acquire the misappropriated fuel.

He committed the offences over 46 occasions between August 2014 and December 2017.

Wong is among the three bunker clerks previously employed by Sentek, who were charged for offences under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act (CDSA) and the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA).

Another bunker clerk among the three charged, Wong Kuin Wah, 61, was sentenced to seven years and six months’ jail on 18 November for his role in misappropriating more than 27,000 tonnes of gas oil worth around USD 12.8 million (SGD 17.2 million).

The third individual who was charged, Boo Pu Wen, reportedly passed away in July 2023 and had his charges abated following his death, meaning Boo’s court proceedings over his 19 charges at the time came to an end.

Former Shell employees, who were key members of a group who dishonestly misappropriated fuel from Shell Pulau Bukom, were sentenced to jail in court earlier.

Earlier coverage of developments by Manifold Times regarding the Shell MGO bunker heist can be found below: