By South China Morning Post | Created at 2024-11-18 07:56:19 | Updated at 2024-11-18 10:25:39
2 hours ago
Lim Oon Kuin, the elderly founder of collapsed oil trading firm Hin Leong Trading, was on Monday sentenced to 17-and-a-half years in prison in a cheating case involving at least US$111.7 million.
The 82-year-old, also known as O.K. Lim, had orchestrated one of the most serious cases of trade financing fraud in Singapore, the prosecution previously told the court.
Lim faced more than 100 charges and contested them at trial, but was convicted of two charges of cheating HSBC and one count of abetting forgery.
His conviction involved two bogus transactions for the sale of oil, and the submission of forged documents that led HSBC to disburse at least US$111.7 million in loans to Hin Leong.
On Monday, Lim’s lawyer said that his client will appeal against the sentence.
Deputy Public Prosecutors Christopher Ong, Kelvin Chong and Foo Shi Hao sought 20 years’ imprisonment for Lim. They previously argued that his charges were “examples of the worst possible kinds of cheating” and could undermine confidence in Singapore’s oil trading industry.
