Head of oil trader Hin Leong didn't disclose $800m losses

The founder and director of top Singapore oil-trading company Hin Leong Trading Pte Ltd (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 filing to the Singapore High Court by HLT and subsidiary Ocean Tankers (Pte) Ltd, seeking a six-month moratorium on debts of $3.85 billion to 23 banks.

The filing cites a collapse in the oil price 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 $78.2 million for the business year ended in October, "HLT has not been making profits in the last few years," Lim said in the filing, which has not been made public.

The company "suffered about US$800 million 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 Lim's affidavit spelling out the losses and specific including his acknowledgement of personal responsibility for not reporting the losses. Bloomberg cited the $800 million in losses in a report late Sunday.

Lim, reached by phone, declined comment to Reuters, as did his lawyer Patrick Ang, managing partner at Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP, who was reached by e-mail.