Probe begins into shock collapse of Singaporean oil giant Hin Leong
Topics: SINGAPORE OIL HIN LEONG
The probe is the latest twist in the downfall of the company, which owes US$3.85 billion (HK$30.03 billion) to more than 20 banks and revealed in court filings that it hid about US$800 million in losses.
Worse still for the banks, Lim said he had secretly sold some of the millions of barrels of oil inventories the company had pledged as collateral for its loans.
The gap between the company's assets and its liabilities stands at US$3.34 billion.
The implosion of Hin Leong, one of the biggest and most secretive players in the world of physical oil trading, is among the most spectacular impacts wrought by this year's collapse in oil prices, which squeezed the firm's revenues and triggered banks to call in debts. ■