Lim Oon Kuin, the founder of Hin Leong Trading (Pte) Ltd, was charged in court with abetment of forgery for the purpose of cheating today, Sep. 25.

Hin Leong is reportedly in debt to the tune of S$5.5 billion, despite reporting S$103 million in profit for the financial year ending 2019.

What investigations have revealed so far

According to a Sep. 25 statement from the Singapore Police Force (SPF), Lim's latest charge arises from him "instigating a Hin Leong employee to forge an email".

The forged email, purportedly sent by Hin Leong to China Aviation Oil (Singapore) Corporation Ltd on Feb. 26, 2020, contained details of a sale of fuel.

Lim was read a previous forgery charge on Aug. 14, after investigations revealed Lim's involvement in forging a document which said that Hin Leong had transferred more than one million barrels of gasoil to China Aviation Oil (Singapore) Corporation Ltd.

The forged email and document were used to secure more than US$56 million (S$79 million) in trade financing, SPF said.

SPF also said that investigations are ongoing into other offences allegedly committed by Lim.

For each of the two charges he faces so far, Lim could be imprisoned for up to 10 years, and fined.

Lim was Singapore's 18th richest man in 2019 with a net worth of US$1.65 billion (S$2.35 billion), according to Forbes.

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Top image by Patrick Hendry from Unsplash