Shipping/Fuel: Singapore's Hin Leong Trading Is Bankrupt, Probable Disclosure and Bank Fraud Issues (HSBC exposure $600 Mil US)

Looking at my headline and thinking "duh", their selling off the collateral, of course there's a disclosure issue, it's the old rule of thumb, liars steal and stealers lie.

From The Straits Times:

SINGAPORE  (REUTERS, BLOOMBERG) - The legendary founder of top Singapore oil trader Hin Leong Trading (HLT) directed the firm not to disclose hundreds of millions of dollars in losses over several years, he said in a court filing reviewed by Reuters.

The affidavit signed by Lim Oon Kuin, a Chinese immigrant in his 70s widely known as O. K. Lim, is part of a Friday (April 17) filing to the Singapore High Court by HLT and its shipping arm Ocean Tankers (Pte) Ltd, seeking a six-month moratorium on debts of US$3.85 billion (S$5.47 billion) to 23 banks.

The filing cites a collapse in oil prices and the coronavirus pandemic, which has hammered oil demand and pushed up costs for HLT, one of Asia’s largest oil traders.

Despite reporting net profit of US$78.2 million for the business year ended in October, “HLT has not been making profits in the last few years,” Mr Lim said in the filing, which has not been made public.

The company “suffered about US$800 million (S$1.14 billion) in futures losses over the years but these were not reflected in the financial statements,” he said. “In this regard, I had given instructions to the finance department to prepare the accounts without showing the losses and told them that I would be responsible if anything went wrong.”

Reuters was the first to disclose the existence of Mr Lim’s affidavit spelling out the losses and specific including his acknowledgement of personal responsibility for not reporting the losses. Bloomberg cited the US$800 million in losses in a report earlier on Sunday (April 19).

Mr Lim, reached by phone, declined comment to Reuters. The company is being advised by Rajah & Tann.

Mr Lim’s only son Evan Lim Chee Meng, a director at HLT and Ocean Tankers, said the company also sold some of the million of barrels of refined products it had used as collateral to secure loans from its banks, sources told Bloomberg, citing an April 17 email sent by Ocean Tankers notifying recipient parties of proposed moratorium proceedings....

....MUCH MORE 

Recently:
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Apr. 16
Uh Oh: Singapore's Hin Leong Will Suspend Marine Fueling Operations As Soon As April 17