Lars Moller, former CEO of the Singapore subsidiary that brought down OW Bunker, has told a court in Denmark he knew nothing of emails sent by its CFO expressing concern at its financial dealings.
Moller has pleaded not guilty to breach of trust following the catastrophic collapse of the bunker trader in 2014.
He was head of its Dynamic Oil Trading (DOT) unit that was allegedly involved in extending $156m in letters of credit to another Singapore supplier, Tankoil Marine Services.
OW alleged a $125m fraud at DOT and filed for bankruptcy just seven months after listing in Copenhagen, sparking a flurry of writs.
Following orders?
Jyllands-Posten and Maritime Denmark reported that Moller told the court that he was only doing what he was asked to by OW Bunker's head office in Denmark.
Prosecutor Marie Tullin presented a large number of emails dating back to 2013 and 2014, in which DOT's CFO Kimmie Goh expressed her concerns to Moller regarding the credit line.
But the CEO stated in court that he had no recollection of the numerous emails and was not part of the finance department.
These things were not part of his daily schedule, he added.
"I was more commercial," he said. "I had the title of CEO, but I have a degree in language, so I probably should not do accounting.
"I assume that the people in charge of accounting and the administration part had this under control."
TradeWinds has previously reported that OW omitted information about its Singapore subsidiary’s speculative trading policies that it was advised to include in its IPO prospectus.
The trial continues.
