Former Singapore oil tycoon OK Lim sees 127 charges withdrawn, receives stern warning

The Attorney-General’s Chambers told The Straits Times on Monday that the prosecution had “directed that a stern warning be administered to Lim” instead of pursuing prosecution over those charges.

The decision was made after careful consideration of the facts and circumstances of the case, including the sentence, it said, adding that the prosecution subsequently applied for a discharge in respect of the remaining charges after the warning was administered.

Lim was granted a discharge amounting to an acquittal for the charges by a district court last week, meaning he cannot be prosecuted again for the same offenses.

Lim Oon Kuin, better known as O.K. Lim, is currently serving a prison sentence for two counts of cheating and one count of abetting forgery, which he was convicted of in late 2024.

The court found that he had deceived HSBC into disbursing US$111.6 million to Hin Leong using two fabricated oil sale contracts. He was also found to have instructed a former employee to forge documents relating to one of those contracts.

His sentence was originally 17.5 years before it was reduced by four years after the High Court allowed his appeal in early March, The Business Times reported.

During the appeal, Justice Hoo Sheau Peng described the initial sentence as “crushing,” even after taking into account the usual one-third remission. She also found that the sentencing judge had erred by placing weight on the prosecution’s claim that Lim’s offenses had harmed public confidence in Singapore’s oil industry. She also factored in the substantial restitution Lim made and his advanced age.

Lim was taken into custody at a hospital to start his sentence in early April after he failed to show up at the State Courts. He had reportedly been hospitalized due to breathing difficulties a few days before that, Channel News Asia reported.

Established in 1973, Hin Leong was one of Asia’s largest oil trading companies before its sudden collapse in April 2020.

It was owned by Lim, his son Evan Lim and his daughter Lim Huey Ching. The trio was declared bankrupt in December 2024 after reaching a settlement in two lawsuits filed by Hin Leong’s liquidators and HSBC against the family.