Singapore oil trader Hin Leong's shareholders to address findings of judicial manager report: statement

Singapore — The findings of the interim judicial managers concerning Hin Leong, filed in Singapore's Supreme Court on June 23, will be addressed by the Lim family in the appropriate forums, "including the circumstances leading to the publication of the report and the conduct of relevant persons," according to a statement from its shareholders issued late June 25.

The statement was signed by Lim Oon Kuin, or OK Lim, Lim Chee Meng, and Lim Huey Ching, who are the main shareholders in Hin Leong Trading, and the other family-run companies including Ocean Tankers, Xihe Group, and Universal Terminal in Singapore.

It was issued in response to a preliminary report filed by court-appointed interim judicial managers, or IJMs, from PricewaterhouseCoopers on the prospects of Hin Leong Trading being restructured, and their findings on the oil trader's finances and assets.

Individuals who are being investigated must be given a reasonable opportunity to put forward facts and arguments in justification of their conduct and to respond to any criticism before any conclusions affecting them are reached, the statement said.

"It is therefore deeply disappointing that the interim judicial managers and their lawyers decided not to accord us that opportunity. Their reason for not doing so is curious," the statement said.

It also said OK Lim, the founder of Hin Leong, had been certified by his doctors to be unfit for work, and the relevant medical certificated was submitted to the IJMs.

OK Lim resigned from all his executive roles at Ocean Tankers, Hin Leong Trading, the Xihe Group and related companies, effective April 17, but continues to be a shareholder in the companies.

The report published earlier in the week started June 21 had stated that Hin Leong Trading's restructuring or rehabilitation could only be viable if it was clubbed with other group companies under the Lim Family, an injection of the family's personal assets, and their willingness to divest ownership in the companies.

It said its findings into the company's activities uncovered account manipulation, forged documentation and fictitious profits, including the overstatement of derivatives trading gains and inventories.