Yahoo Finance Singapore’s OK Lim faces liquidators, banks in $3.5 billion case
By Low De Wei
(Bloomberg) — Former tycoon Lim Oon Kuin and his children are set to face the liquidators of his collapsed oil trading empire in a civil lawsuit trial that kicks off Thursday in Singapore.
Hin Leong Trading Pte. and its court-appointed managers are suing the Lims as they seek to recover funds to pay more than 20 bank creditors including HSBC Holdings Plc and DBS Group Holdings Ltd. HSBC’s suit against the Lims is also set to get underway on Thursday in a case alleging conspiracy and fraudulent misrepresentation.
The lenders combined are owed about $3.5 billion after Hin Leong failed under a cloud of alleged fraud and hidden losses about three years ago. OK Lim, as the 81-year-old businessman is popularly known, is separately facing multiple charges of cheating and forgery brought by prosecutors. He pleaded not guilty in a trial earlier this year with the verdict yet to be announced.
Lim’s family, including his children Evan Lim Chee Meng and Lim Huey Ching, had as much as $3.5 billion of assets worldwide frozen by the Singapore High Court in 2021. The children were both directors of Hin Leong.
Hin Leong’s liquidators are PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP’s Chan Kheng Tek and GTP Advisory PAC’s Goh Thien Phong. They are represented by lawyers from Drew & Napier LLC led by Cavinder Bull. Davinder Singh from Davinder Singh Chambers LLC is leading Lim’s defense.
—With assistance from Alfred Cang and Chanyaporn Chanjaroen.
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.
