Family assets valued at $3.5 billion face a freeze approved by a Singapore court over the collapse of oil trader Hin Leong.
A Singapore court approved a freeze on assets belonging to 79-year old Hin Leong founder Lim Oon Kuin – also known as O.K. Lim – his son Lim Chee Ming and daughter Lim Huey Ching, according to a «Bloomberg» report citing an email from liquidators sent to over 200 creditors.
Up to $3.5 billion of assets have been approved for the freeze and Goh Thien Phong, one of the liquidators, said the Lim family may file an appeal.
Goh also said his lawyers will proceed in the next few days to require the Lim family to disclose their assets on affidavit.
Asset Hunt
Thus far, creditors have been able to recoup only $270 million, according to the report, and they have no been seeking personal assets, alongside liquidators, from Singapore, China and Australia.
Liquidators also asked courts to freeze other family assets like multi-million-dollar homes, shares, funds and country club memberships.
Millions of dollars in family assets have already been sold in recent months including a stake in a Singapore oil storage facility and dozens of ships owned by their Xihe Group.
Hin Leong Collapse
Once one of Asia’s top oil traders, Hin Leong collapsed last year a default triggered by a commodity price drop exposed years of hidden losses and alleged fraud.
The firm was reportedly exposed to $3.85 billion of debt to over dozens of creditors including DBS, Bank of China, Societe Generale, Standard Chartered, HSBC and more.
After nearly a year of restructuring $3.5 billion of debt, a court approved an application for Hin Leong’s wind-up.
