The Search for Lost Billions: Failed Hin Leong Homeowners Facing Asset Claims

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Stung by the collapse of Asia’s leading independent oil trading company, some global banks have come together to search for the personal assets of the family behind Hin Leong Trading, which has left creditors on the hook. for billions of dollars.

As part of what sources say is the largest legal case on record in Singapore, liquidators and creditors are seeking assets from the city-state to China and Australia that belong to the Lim family, after the company with Singapore headquarters will be liquidated in March. .

At a hearing on Monday, court-appointed liquidators will ask the Singapore High Court to freeze the family’s assets around the world, from multi-million dollar homes to country club memberships, stocks and funds, three sources told Reuters with knowledge of the case.

Hin Leong failed in a year-long effort to restructure around $ 3.5 billion in debt after the COVID-19-led oil crash uncovered huge losses. Founder Lim Oon Kuin admitted in a court document last year that he ordered the firm not to disclose hundreds of millions of dollars in losses for several years.

At least a dozen creditors, capable of recovering just $ 270 million from the collapsed company, are pursuing the assets of the tycoon, known as OK Lim, his son Evan Lim and his daughter Lim Huey Ching.

“There is not much money left in the company, but the family has many assets, so the creditors are now trying to go after them,” said one of the sources who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the media. .

The 78-year-old Lim, who started his sprawling empire delivering diesel by truck in 1963, was once ranked among the 18 richest people in Singapore by Forbes. The magazine said last year it was worth $ 1.3 billion, while sources estimate the family’s wealth at $ 2 billion in Singapore alone.

Banks, which began withdrawing lines of credit from Hin Leong last year, have been unable to recover any significant funds from Hin Leong so far.

Of the nearly two dozen banks involved with Hin Leong, at least four have sued the family, court records show: France’s Natixis SA, Bank of China, Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp and Dutch lender Rabobank.

The Lim family, their legal representative, the liquidators and their law firm did not immediately respond to e-mailed inquiries from Reuters on the matter. Rabobank, Natixis and HSBC declined to comment, while the Bank of China did not respond.

PRIVATE EYES, BRAINSTORMING

In addition to hiring private investigators to uncover the family’s assets, some of the creditors are taking the unusual step of meeting informally to share information about their search, the sources said.

While directors are generally not personally liable for the debts of their Singapore-registered companies, they can be if it involves fraud, lawyers say.

OK Lim has been charged by Singapore prosecutors with two counts of incitement to falsify his instructions that the company conceals losses. Prosecutors said this week they hope to indict him Thursday on 23 more counts of counterfeiting-related crimes.

A third of the roughly 150 boats owned by the family’s Xihe Group were sold for at least $ 420 million, according to VesselsValue, which tracks boat sales.

The Lims have also raised between $ 300 million and $ 370 million from the sale of their stake in Singapore’s prized Universal Terminal oil storage facility, two sources said.

Given that OK Lim is said to be in poor health and the family is represented by a senior Singaporean litigator, who previously represented the city-state’s prime minister, creditors hope that Hin Leong’s legal saga will drag on.

($ 1 = 1.3437 Singapore dollars)