SINGAPORE – Fallen oil tycoon Lim Oon Kuin testified in his criminal trial on Monday that his former personal assistant Serene Seng was responsible for buy and sell negotiations with clients, and negotiations with banks for new financing, among other things at Hin Leong Trading.

Taking the stand for the first time in his own defence over cheating and forgery charges, the 81-year-old better known as O.K. Lim described Madam Seng as “very responsible, diligent and intelligent”, and also “very flexible and knows how to handle the situation”.

As Hin Leong’s business grew, and interactions with banks increased, “there was more work we needed her to be responsible for”, said Lim, as he gave testimony in Mandarin through an interpreter.

Madam Seng was eventually appointed head of contracts and corporate affairs manager “so clients would understand what she does”, added Lim, who founded the now insolvent oil trading firm.

Lim faces a total of 130 criminal charges involving US$2.7 billion (S$3.6 billion) in alleged fraudulent loans disbursed. 

Earlier in the trial, Madam Seng, who had worked at Hin Leong for close to 30 years, testified that she had lied to a Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) investigator in June 2020 about her recollection of circumstances relating to a transaction with Unipec Singapore that is the subject of Lim’s criminal charges.

She said she did so because she feared being prosecuted and sent to jail because she had taken instructions to create false documents for a deal that had not taken place.

According to the prosecution, Lim, through his employees, had allegedly cheated HSBC by claiming that Hin Leong had entered into two contracts to sell oil to China Aviation Oil (Singapore), or CAO, and Unipec, and submitting two invoice financing applications premised on those transactions.

The two transactions were fabrications allegedly concocted on Lim’s directions, and the invoice financing applications were said to be supported by forged or fabricated documentation.

As a result, HSBC was dishonestly induced into disbursing US$111.6 million to Hin Leong, prosecutors said.

Madam Seng is also one of four defendants, along with Lim and his two children, in a civil lawsuit over US$85.3 million in damages brought by HSBC in relation to the Unipec and CAO discounting requests.

At the same time, Lim and his two children are also embroiled in a civil suit brought by court-appointed liquidators of Hin Leong over US$3.5 billion in alleged debt. A civil trial of both cases is ongoing in the High Court.

In Monday’s criminal trial, Lim was asked by his lawyer, Mr Navin Thevar, from Davinder Singh Chambers how involved Lim was in actual buy and sell negotiations with clients.

Lim replied: “She (Madam Seng) knows how to do the negotiations herself. She has the experience.

“If we had a trade with Company A and the company wanted to do the same trade, we just have to tell her to follow the last deal, but change the time, quantity, price. She will know and she will do it.”

As for negotiations with banks on new financing facilities, Lim said: “Because Hin Leong has a reputation with the banks... they will look for Madam Seng to negotiate. I don’t need to be involved; she can negotiate (by) herself.”

Lim also testified that he is “not familiar” with letters of credit and was “not involved” with trust receipts, but “has heard of mark-to-market margin calls”.

He testified that letters of credit, trust receipts, discounting of invoices and mark-to-market margin calls were all handled by the company’s accounts department.

When asked whom the accounts employees will turn to for instruction if they had difficulties dealing with these, Lim said: “They will look for Serene Seng.”

He added “there was no need” for Madam Seng to report such matters to him “because, all the while, she has been able to find ways to resolve”.

When asked about his dealings with Hin Leong’s accounts department from 2010 until he resigned, Lim said: “I rarely interact with accounts because I do not know accounts and what I do has nothing much to do with accounts. And there’s someone who is in charge of accounts matters... For example, if Serene is in charge, they will look for Serene.”

Asked about Freddy Tan, a contracts executive of Hin Leong, Lim said he “rarely” interacted with him “because he has an English name and I tend to forget people with English names”.

Twelve of the charges that Lim faces relate to his allegedly instigating Freddy Tan to forge documents purportedly issued by UT Singapore Services.

These documents allegedly represented that Hin Leong had transferred more than one million tonnes of high sulphur fuel oil and gasoil to CAO. They were then allegedly used to secure about US$484.5 million in trade financing from a financial institution, police said.

Lim told the court that from 2010, as he was in his 70s then, and due to his medical condition, he went to work only in the afternoon and gradually handed work to a team of people he trusted.

Lim, a native of Fujian, China, who came to Singapore when he was 12, also told the court he did not know how to use a computer because his highest level of education is Secondary 2. He said he had to stop his studies because of family difficulties.

He said he does not know how to use e-mail, send messages using a mobile phone, or get documents printed or photocopied.

If there were forms that needed to be filled at Hin Leong, he would ask his assistant or others to fill out the forms and give them to him, he said.

From 2010 until he resigned, Lim said he was focused on “strategic work and new business development”.

The trial continues.