The founder of a collapsed Singaporean oil trading company will be sentenced Monday for defrauding banking giant HSBC out of millions of dollars, in one of the country’s most high-profile fraud cases.
Lim Oon Kuin, better known as O.K. Lim, was convicted in May for his role in the scheme that undermined Singapore’s reputation as a leading global oil trading hub.
His company, Hin Leong Trading, was once one of Asia’s largest oil trading firms before its sudden and dramatic collapse in 2020.
The sentencing is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. local time (0630 GMT) on Monday, with State Courts Judge Toh Han Li presiding.
Prosecutors are calling for a 20-year prison sentence for the 80-year-old businessman, describing the case as “one of the most serious instances of trade financing fraud ever prosecuted in Singapore.” The defense, however, is seeking a seven-year sentence, emphasizing Lim’s advanced age and poor health while downplaying the harm caused by his actions.
Lim faced a total of 130 criminal charges related to hundreds of millions of dollars in fraud. However, prosecutors focused on three charges: two of cheating HSBC and one of encouraging a Hin Leong executive to forge documents.
The court heard that Lim had deceived HSBC into releasing nearly $112 million by falsely claiming his company had entered into oil sales contracts with two companies. According to prosecutors, these transactions were “complete fabrications” that Lim had orchestrated. They argued that his actions not only caused significant financial harm but also “tarnished Singapore’s hard-earned reputation as Asia’s leading oil trading hub.”
A fall from grace
Lim’s rise from humble beginnings mirrored Singapore’s own transformation from a modest port city to a global financial powerhouse. He founded Hin Leong Trading in 1965, shortly before Singapore gained independence, starting with a single delivery truck.
Over the decades, the firm expanded into one of the largest suppliers of fuel for ships, playing a key role in making Singapore the world’s top refueling port. At its peak, the company had grown into a major player in ship chartering and management, with a fleet of over 150 vessels.
However, in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic sent oil markets into turmoil, exposing the financial troubles that had been hidden for years. Faced with mounting debts, Hin Leong sought court protection from creditors.
In a stunning affidavit made public in 2020, Lim admitted that the company had been falsely reporting profits for years. Despite claiming a healthy balance sheet in 2019, Lim revealed that Hin Leong had been concealing $800 million in losses and owed nearly $4 billion to banks. He took full responsibility for instructing the company to hide these losses and acknowledged that inventories meant to secure loans had been sold off.
The collapse of Hin Leong marked the end of an era for one of Singapore’s most prominent oil traders, highlighting the risks in an industry once seen as a pillar of the nation’s economy.
