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Petrolimex Singapore wins USD 30 million bankruptcy order against ex-Brightoil Chairman

Dr Sit Kwong Lam lost an appeal against the bankruptcy order at Hong Kong’s Court of Appeal on 24 October 2019 due to missing Arbitration Clause in Personal Guarantee.

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An appeal by the former Chairman and Executive Director of Hong Kong-listed Brightoil Petroleum Holdings Dr Sit Kwong Lam against a bankruptcy order presented by Petrolimex Singapore Pte Ltd due to debt of over USD 30 million has been dismissed by the Court of Appeal in the High Court of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on 24 October 2019.

Developments leading up to the case

Brightoil Petroleum (Singapore) Pte Ltd (Brightoil Singapore), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Brightoil Petroleum Holdings bought USD 30,253,600 worth of goods from Petrolimex Singapore on 23 April 2018 payable under two invoices, but had difficulty paying, according to the judgement seen by Manifold Times.

A Personal Guarantee (which did not contain any Arbitration Clause) undertaken by Dr Sit Kwong Lam on 23 April 2018 guaranteed the punctual payment performance by Brightoil Singapore for the two invoices on or before 10 July 2018.

However, Brightoil Singapore failed to pay the sum due by 10 July 2018; this resulted in the company and Petrolimex Singapore on 12 July 2018 entering into a contractual arrangement (which included an arbitration clause) for payment via four instalments between 10 August 2018 and 9 November 2018.

Aside from payment of USD 100,000 to Petrolimex Singapore, Brightoil Singapore did not make further payments to the former. Hence, Petrolimex Singapore initiated a winding up petition against Brightoil Singapore on 23 October 2018.

Issue of the contested ‘Arbitration Clause’

In the latest development, lawyers representing Dr Sit said the contractual arrangement between Brightoil Singapore and Petrolimex Singapore on 12 July 2018 included an Arbitration Clause from a Personal Guarantee signed by Dr Sit on 23 April 2018.

However, the court did not find an Arbitration Clause existing in the Personal Guarantee signed by Dr Sit at the earlier date.

“The judge acknowledged that while in construing a contract, all parts of it must be given effect where possible and no part of it should be treated as inoperative or surplus, he took the view that the reference to “arbitration clause” in clause 4 of the PG Addendum was a clerical mistake, which should be ignored as a matter of construction,” stated Susan Kwan, Vice President, Peter Cheung, Justice of Appeal, and Carlye Chu, Justice of Appeal, in a joint statement explaining the judgement on 1 November 2019.

Kwan, Cheung, and Chu believed, “it is more probable than not the parties had mistakenly believed the Personal Guarantee had incorporated an arbitration clause in the same or similar terms as clause 7 of the Settlement Agreement.”

Verdict

The trio concluded: “The debt in the petition is not subject to any arbitration provision. There is no challenge to the holding that there is no bona fide dispute of the debt on substantial grounds.  We have therefore dismissed the Debtor’s appeal with costs.”

A chronologically organised list of articles related to Dr Sit Kwong Lam’s involvement in Brightoil is as follows:

Related: Hong Kong: Dr Sit Kwong Lam returns to Brightoil as Strategic Adviser
Related: Brightoil former Chairman undertook $1.4 billion in personal guarantees
Related: Official: Dr Sit Kwong Lam leaves Brightoil Petroleum Holdings
Related: Hong Kong High Court issues bankruptcy order against Brightoil Chairman
Related: Singapore: Petrolimex owed over USD $30 million by Brightoil
Related: Brightoil to defend against winding up petition at Hong Kong court

Photo credit: Wpcpey [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)]
Published: 11 November, 2019

 

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Legal

Singapore withdraws remaining 127 charges against Hin Leong founder OK Lim

Lim Oon Kuin, also known as OK Lim, was issued a stern warning and a district court granted him a discharge amounting to an acquittal for these charges on 17 July.

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RESIZED Sora Shimazaki on Pexels

Founder of collapsed oil trader Hin Leong Trading, Lim Oon Kuin, also known as OK Lim, has had the remaining 127 charges against him withdrawn, according to The Straits Times on Monday (20 July). 

OK Lim was issued a stern warning and a district court granted him a discharge amounting to an acquittal for these charges, including those for cheating, on 17 July. The discharge means Lim cannot be prosecuted again for the same offences.

Lim, 84, is currently serving a 13½-year prison sentence after the High Court reduced his original 17½-year jail term in March 2026. He was convicted in 2024 on two cheating charges and one count of abetting forgery in a case prosecutors described as one of Singapore’s most serious trade finance frauds.

Lim was convicted in May 2024 of two charges of cheating the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) and one count of abetting forgery that proceeded to trial out of a total of 130 criminal charges.

He was first charged in court on 14 August 2020, and was subsequently handed further charges in court on 25 September 2020, 30 April 2021 and 24 June 2021 for his role in perpetuating fraud on various financial institutions. 

A total of 130 charges were eventually brought against him for cheating and forgery-related offences.

Related: Singapore: Hin Leong Founder OK Lim gets jail term slashed to 13.5 years

 

Photo credit: Sora Shimazaki
Published: 21 July, 2026

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Winding up

Singapore: Coastal Logistics Pte Ltd to be wound up voluntarily

Coastal Logistics was reportedly affiliated with troubled Singapore bunker player Coastal Oil (Singapore) Pte Ltd.

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RESIZED Drew Beamer

Several resolutions for Coastal Logistics Pte Ltd were made during an extraordinary general meeting held on 14 July, according to a notice in the Government Gazette on Friday (4 July).

The following resolutions were duly passed during the meeting:

As Special Resolution

  • That it has been proved to the satisfaction of the meeting that the Company cannot by reason of its liabilities continue its business and accordingly the Company be wound up voluntarily pursuant to Section 160(1)(b) of the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018 (No. 40 of 2018);

As Ordinary Resolutions

  • that Mr. Wong Pheng Cheong Martin and Ms. Koay May Yee, both care of FTI Consulting (Singapore) Pte Ltd, One Raffles Quay, #27-10 South Tower, Singapore 048583 be appointed as the joint and several Liquidators of the Company for the purpose of such winding up; and
  • that the Liquidators be at liberty to open, maintain and operate any bank account(s) or account(s) for monies received by them as Liquidators with such bank(s) as they deem fit; and
  • that a Committee of Inspection will not be formed.

Manifold Times previously reported Nicholas James Gronow, director of Heng Tong Fuels & Shipping and Coastal Logistics, filed statutory declarations for both companies stating the firms cannot continue their businesses due to liabilities.

Both companies were reportedly affiliated with troubled Singapore bunker player Coastal Oil (Singapore) Pte Ltd. 

In 2019, several vessels owned by both firms entered the sale & purchase (S&P) market in Singapore.

Related: Singapore: Director declares Heng Tong Fuels & Shipping’s inability to continue business
Related: Heng Tong Fuels & Shipping in court over DBS Bank bunker tanker loan
Related: Singapore: Bunker tanker “Coastal Neptune” arrested
Related: Heng Tong Fuels & Shipping, Coastal Logistics tankers enter S&P market

 

Photo credit: Drew Beamer
Published: 21 July, 2026

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Winding up

Singapore: Liquidator of Nan Shan Maritime Pte Ltd issues notice of dividend

Third interim dividend to admitted unsecured claims of Nan Shan Maritime is payable from 15 July, according to Government Gazette notice.

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RESIZED Drew Beamer

A notice of dividend for Nan Shan Maritime Pte Ltd, which is currently in creditors’ voluntary liquidation, was published on the Government Gazette on Wednesday (15 July). 

The following are the details of the notice:

Name of Company : Nan Shan Maritime (Pte.) Ltd.(In Creditors’ Voluntary Liquidation)
Unique Entity No. / Registration No. : 201701967H
Address of Registered Office : 10 Anson Road, #10-10, International Plaza, Singapore 079903
Amount per centum : 5.00 Per Centum of all admitted unsecured, claims
First and Final or Otherwise : Third Interim
When Payable : 15 July 2026
Where Payable : Entitlements will be made by way of cheque.

 

Photo credit: Drew Beamer
Published: 16 July, 2026

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