Singapore: Former oil tycoon O.K. Lim as he stands trial for cheating, instigating forgery; pleads not guilty

Lim Oon Kuin (in wheelchair), better known as O.K. Lim, arriving at the State Courts on April 11, 2023. - ST PHOTO: ONG WEE JIN

SINGAPORE, April 11 (The Straits Times/ANN): Singapore prosecutors on Tuesday opened the criminal trial of insolvent Hin Leong founder Lim Oon Kuin, better known as O.K. Lim, who faces a total of 130 charges involving US$2.7 billion (S$3.6 billion) in alleged fraudulent loans disbursed.

In what they called “one of the world’s largest collapses of an oil trading firm”, prosecutors alleged that 16 banks in Singapore have suffered US$291.9 million in “actual monetary loss” out of the US$2.7 billion in loans that they were allegedly duped into extending to Hin Leong by Lim. The losses are part of the alleged US$3.5 billion debt owed by Hin Leong to 23 banks.