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 Sure Lim, had orchestrated one of the most severe cases of business financing scams in Singapore, the trial recently told the jury.
Lim was found guilty of two counts of defrauding the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation ( HSBC ) and one count of abetting forgery despite facing more than 100 charges and contesting them at trial.
His judgment involved two fictitious fuel sales and the use of fictitious documents that caused HSBC to give Hin Leong at least US$ 111 million in loans.
On Monday, Lim’s attorney said that his client did charm against the word.
For Lim, assistant public prosecutor Christopher Ong, Kelvin Chong, and Foo Shi Hao, they requested 20 years in prison. They had previously argued that his accusations were “exeamples of the worst possible types of cheating” and may undermine Singapore’s oil buying sector’s trust.
Aufgrund of Lim’s weight, they added,” no weight should be placed on his age or health condition.”
A group of Davinder Singh Chambers attorneys, who requested a seven-year jail term, represent Lim.
In a letter from the jail services, top lawyers Davinder Singh claimed there were “very major gaps” and that Lim’s requirements could be met in prison.
The notice did not address all of Lim’s health problems, which include anxiety, depression, insomnia, a huge gland, asthma, coronary artery disease and cognitive vascular disease with cognitive deficits, Mr Singh said.
Who had instructed Hin Leong team to create the documents that appeared to show the oil trader had engaged in two fictitious transactions for Lim’s trial, which began in April 2023?
Principal District Judge Toh Han Li ruled in May that Lim had directed his staff to build the documents related to the two alleged purchases in March 2020.
Lim was the coordinating producer and 75 per cent investor of Hin Leong, an crude trading firm incorporated in Singapore, at the time of the crimes.
Judge Toh determined that Lim remained Hin Leong’s “big boss” yet after stepping down in April 2020, that he was “hands on,” and that investments required his assent.
Additionally, Lim was charged with violating the family’s civil rights by trustees. After Lim and his two babies consented to the US$ 3.5 billion wisdom being imposed on them, this came to an end.
Due to lack of assets to pay their claims, Lim, his princess Lim Huey Ching, and his brother Evan Lim Chee Meng filed for bankruptcy in September.