Founder of oil trader Hin Leong, OK Lim, charged in Singapore court in forgery case

China Aviation Oil (Singapore)

17/08/2020 24:20

(Repeats story published late on Friday, with no changes to
text)
    By Jessica Jaganathan
    SINGAPORE, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Lim Oon Kuin, founder of
troubled Singapore oil firm Hin Leong Trading (Pte) Ltd, was
charged in Singapore court on Friday with abetment of forgery
for the purpose of cheating, police said.
    Hin Leong, one of Asia's largest oil traders, was placed
under so-called judicial management in April after banks
demanded repayment of loans as oil prices crashed amid the 
coronavirus pandemic - a collapse that revealed earlier
financial troubles.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N2CF2Y0
    In the charges on Friday, Lim, known as O.K. Lim, was
accused of instigating a Hin Leong employee to forge a document
supposedly issued by UT Singapore Services Pte Ltd stating that
Hin Leong had transferred more than one million barrels of
gasoil to China Aviation Oil (Singapore) Corp  CNAO.SI , the
Singapore Police Force said in a statement on its website.
    The document was then allegedly used to secure more than $56
million in trade financing from a financial institution, it
added. It did not say when the alleged offence took place.
    If convicted, Lim faces a jail term of up to 10 years and a
fine. The police added that investigations are ongoing into
other offences allegedly committed by Lim.
    Lim could not immediately be reached by Reuters for comment.
The Lim family's legal advisors, Davinder Singh Chambers LLC,
did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment.
    Lim admitted in a court document filed earlier this year to
directing the firm not to disclose hundreds of millions of
dollars in losses over several years.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2C81MI
    Hin Leong is owned by Lim, who is in his 70s, his son Lim
Chee Meng, who is also known as Evan Lim, and daughter Lim Huey
Ching.
    UT Singapore Services Pte Ltd, which is owned by oil storage
provider Universal Terminal, did not immediately respond to an
emailed request for comment.
    The Attorney General Chambers did not immediately respond to
emailed requests for comment. CAO declined to comment.

 (Reporting by Jessica Jaganathan
Additional reporting by Roslan Khasawneh, Chen Aizhu, Seng Li
Peng and Koustav Samanta
Editing by Florence Tan and Frances Kerry)
 ((Jessica.Jaganathan@thomsonreuters.com; +65 6870 3822; Reuters
Messaging: jessica.jaganathan.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net;
Twitter: https://twitter.com/j3ssi3))