Daughter of Singapore disgraced oil tycoon OK Lim on trial for allegedly ordering deletion of Hin Leong server data

Prosecutors say Lim, 58, told the firm’s then-IT manager, Lim Chin, on April 13, 2020, to permanently delete data and remove server backups, a day before PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), newly appointed as Hin Leong’s financial adviser, was to copy all company information. Hin Leong filed for insolvency protection four days later, The Straits Times reported.

Lim denied the charge, quietly telling the State Courts: "I didn’t do it."

Lim Oon Kuin, popularly known as O.K. Lim, speaks during an interview in 2013. Photo by Reuters

Deputy Public Prosecutor Christopher Ong said Lim was "fully aware" that the company was facing possible civil proceedings and criminal investigations, as reported by Channel News Asia.

Days earlier, Hin Leong’s in-house counsel Nathanael Lin Yong’En had discovered that the firm’s stock levels were significantly lower than what had been financed by banks.

Lim and her brother, Evan Lim Chee Meng later allegedly told PwC that the company’s audited financial statements contained serious irregularities, including about US$800 million in unrecorded losses. PwC informed them that the company’s servers would need to be imaged because of the likelihood of police seizure.

Although the siblings approved PwC’s request, Lim allegedly told Lim Chin to delete the data the day before PwC was scheduled to begin the process.

If convicted, she could face up to seven years in prison, a fine, or both. Hin Leong was once among Asia’s biggest oil traders before its 2020 collapse.

Lim’s father, Lim Oon Kuin, was sentenced to 17 and a half years in prison for orchestrating one of Singapore’s most serious cases of trade financing fraud. He, along with his son Chee Meng and daughter Huey Ching, were declared bankrupt last year following settlements in two lawsuits filed by Hin Leong’s liquidators and HSBC.