Singapore sentences O.K. Lim to over 17 years in prison

The Hing Leong founder, also known as Lim Oon Kuin, was earlier convicted of two charges of cheating HSBC and one count of abetting forgery

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Former oil tycoon Lim Oon Kuin, also known as O.K. Lim, arrives to be sentenced at the State Court in Singapore on Monday. Photo: Reuters

Published: 3:43pm, 18 Nov 2024Updated: 5:59pm, 18 Nov 2024

Lim Oon Kuin, the elderly founder of collapsed oil trading firm Hin Leong Trading, was on Monday sentenced to 17 1/2 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 Senior Counsel Davinder Singh said that his client will appeal against the sentence. Bail was set at S$4 million.

Lim arrived at the State Courts in a wheelchair pushed by a caretaker. He remained seated in his wheelchair when his sentence was read out to him.

Delivering the decision, Principal District Judge Toh Han Li said that Lim’s offences involved a “staggeringly large” amount of money compared to other cheating cases in Singapore.