O.K. Lim, Singapore oil trader and once superstar businessman, convicted of cheating and abetting forgery

The 79-year-old former oil tycoon has also been diagnosed with acute and chronic sinusitis, which will require surgery. - PHOTO: REUTERS

SINGAPORE (AFP) - The founder of a failed Singapore oil trading company was convicted Friday of cheating a major bank and abetting forgery in a case that tainted the city-state's crude trading market.

Lim Oon Kuin, better known as O.K. Lim, founded Hin Leong Trading, one of Asia's biggest oil traders before its collapse in 2020.

The octogenarian businessman faced a total of 130 criminal charges allegedly involving hundreds of millions of dollars.

But prosecutors tried and convicted him on just three charges: two of cheating financial giant HSBC and one of encouraging a Hin Leong executive to forge documents.

Prosecutors accused Lim of tricking HSBC into disbursing nearly US $112 million by telling the bank that his firm had entered into oil sales contracts with two companies.

"In fact, the two transactions were complete fabrications, concocted on the accused's directions," prosecutors said.

The supposed transactions were "supported by forged or fabricated" documents, they added.

"I find that the prosecution has proven the... charges beyond a reasonable doubt and the accused is accordingly convicted on the charges," judge Toh Han Li said in a ruling Friday.

Sentencing was set for October 3 and Lim's bail was extended until then. He could face up to 10 years in jail.

Lim built Hin Leong from a single-truck outfit through hard work and high-risk gambles, making him a legend among crude traders.

But the firm came crashing down in 2020 when the coronavirus pandemic plunged oil markets into unprecedented turmoil, exposing Hin Leong's financial troubles.

Lim sought court protection from creditors.

In a bombshell affidavit seen by AFP at that time, Lim revealed the oil trader had "in truth... not been making profits in the last few years" -- despite having officially reported a healthy profit in 2019.

He admitted the firm he founded in the 1960s after emigrating from China had hidden $800 million in losses over the years, while it also owed almost US$4 billion to banks.

Lim took responsibility for ordering the company not to report the losses and confessed it had sold off inventories that were supposed to backstop loans. - AFP