A Singapore oil magnate faces prison in a major fraud case over financing trade

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — A Singapore oil magnate has been sentenced to 17.5 years in prison for fraud and forgery in a case that prosecutors said has tarnished the city-state’s reputation as Asia’s leading oil trading hub. Lim Oon Kuin was convicted in May on two counts of cheating the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. and one of abetting forgery. The court found Lim used forged documents on two bogus oil transactions to deceive HSBC into disbursing credit totaling $111.7 million. It was one of the biggest cases of trade financing fraud in Singapore. Lim has appealed the sentence and is out on bail.