Hin Leong Trading founder Lim Oon Kuin has been hit with another charge of abetment of forgery for the purpose of cheating.

The charge brought by the Singapore police on Friday accused the 78-year-old Singaporean, better known as OK Lim, of “instigating a Hin Leong employee to forge an email purportedly sent by Hin Leong to China Aviation Oil (Singapore) on 26 February 2020 in relation to a sale transaction of Gasoil 10PPM Sulphur”.

The email allegedly made it look like the oil trader had transferred more than a million barrels of sulphur gasoil to China Aviation Oil (Singapore).

The police contend that the email was submitted to a financial institution to secure more than $56m in trade financing.

With this latest charge, Lim now faces two counts of abetment of forgery for the purpose of cheating.

The earlier charge was brought against him in August and also involved Lim allegedly instructing an accounts executive to make an inter-tank transfer certificate on the letterhead of UT Singapore Services to indicate that the gasoil had been transferred to China Aviation Oil (Singapore).

Lim’s latest charge was read to him outside Singapore’s state courts as he was not allowed to enter the building due to an ongoing respiratory illness.

He is currently out on SGD 3m ($2.1m) bail. The next mention of the case will take place on 23 November.

Each charge carries a jail term of up to 10 years and a fine.

The police said that investigations are ongoing into other offences allegedly committed by Lim.

Lim’s oil trading and business empire collapsed earlier this year after he admitted he had ordered staff to hide more than $800m in losses from the company’s books.

The admission was made when Hin Leong and affiliated tanker operator Ocean Tankers initially sought a six-month moratorium on debts of more than $3.6bn owed to 23 banks.

Hin Leong, Ocean Tankers and Xihe Group, the three main business units owned by the Lim family, have since been put under judicial management.