“It is HSBC’s case that it has been a victim of brazen fraud perpetrated by the defendants,” the bank’s lawyers said in an opening statement, adding the Lims cheated various banks into extending financing by hiding Hin Leong’s dire business straits.
HSBC Holdings Plc said it was deceived by oil tycoon Lim Oon Kuin and his children as civil lawsuits brought by the bank and liquidators of his collapsed fuel trading empire kicked off in Singapore.
Hin Leong Trading Pte. and its court-appointed managers are suing the Lims as they seek to recover funds to pay more than 20 bank creditors including HSBC and DBS Group Holdings Ltd. HSBC’s suit against the Lims also got underway in a case alleging conspiracy and fraudulent misrepresentation over two transactions, It’s seeking to recover more than US$85 million ($115.1 million), a fraction of what was lost.
