On 30 April 2021, Lim Oon Kuin, founder of Hin Leong Trading (Pte) Ltd (“Hin Leong”), was charged in court with an additional 23 charges for the offences of abetment of forgery for the purpose of cheating, and abetment of forgery simpliciter.
12 of these charges relate to Lim Oon Kuin allegedly instigating a Hin Leong employee to forge documents purportedly issued by UT Singapore Services Pte Ltd, representing that Hin Leong had transferred more than one million Metric Tons of Fuel Oil and Gasoil to China Aviation Oil (Singapore) Corporation Ltd (“CAO”). These documents were then allegedly used to secure about USD $484,489,067.43 in trade financing from a financial institution.
A further eight charges relate to Lim Oon Kuin allegedly conspiring with a Hin Leong employee to commit forgery, by procuring eight falsified Certificates of Quality from Amspec Testing Services Pte Ltd, which falsely represented that samples of oil had been collected and tested. These Certificates of Quality were then sent by Hin Leong to CAO to make it appear that independent testing had been carried out to certify the quality of oil that was allegedly sold by Hin Leong to CAO.
The remaining three forgery charges relate to Lim Oon Kuin allegedly instigating a Hin Leong employee to commit forgery by falsifying three documents purportedly issued by UT Singapore Services Pte Ltd, which represented that approximately 167,000 Metric Tons of Gasoil had been transferred from Hin Leong to CAO.
With these 23 charges, Lim Oon Kuin now faces a total of 25 charges - 14 counts of abetment of forgery for the purpose of cheating, and 11 counts of abetment of forgery simpliciter. Investigations are ongoing.
The offence of abetment of forgery for the purpose of cheating, punishable under Section 468 read with Section 109 of the Penal Code, carries an imprisonment term of up to 10 years and a fine. The offence of abetment of forgery simpliciter, punishable under Section 465 read with Section 109 of the Penal Code, carries an imprisonment term of up to four years and a fine.
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
30 April 2021 @ 4:55 PM