SINGAPORE - The former personal assistant of former oil tycoon Lim Oon Kuin admitted to lying to a Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) investigator in June 2020 about her recollection of circumstances relating to a transaction that is the subject of Lim’s criminal charges.

Madam Serene Seng, 61, who had worked at Hin Leong Trading for close to 30 years and whose last position was manager of corporate affairs, broke down in court on Monday as she testified against her former boss, also known as O.K. Lim, who faces cheating and forgery charges.

According to the prosecution, Lim, through his employees, had cheated HSBC by claiming that Hin Leong had entered into two contracts to sell oil to China Aviation Oil (Singapore), or CAO, and Unipec Singapore, and submitting two invoice financing applications premised on those transactions.

In fact, the two transactions were fabrications concocted on Lim’s directions, and the invoice financing applications were supported by forged or fabricated documentation.

As a result, HSBC was dishonestly induced into disbursing US$111.6 million (S$148.9 million) to Hin Leong, the prosecutors said.

Representing Lim, Senior Counsel Davinder Singh of Davinder Singh Chambers, in his cross-examination of Madam Seng on Monday afternoon, pointed to inconsistencies in her statements to the CAD in June 2020 and what she told the court on whether she recalled “how and why the Unipec invoice came about, and how and why she came to sign the bill of lading for the Unipec transaction”.

Under cross-examination, Madam Seng admitted she had lied to the CAD, which is part of the Singapore Police Force, about being “unable to recall” the circumstances relating to the transaction “to protect her children”.

In casting doubt on Madam Seng’s testimony, Mr Singh said: “When you said you cannot recall the circumstances you were asked to sign it, your position is not only did you not know how the Unipec transaction came about, you didn’t know anything about the Unipec discounting?”

Madam Seng said: “I don’t agree. At the time, I didn’t want to stay and explain (to the CAD) what happened in the Unipec bill of lading, and that I took instructions from Mr Lim to do early discounting. That’s why I said those words (I cannot recall the circumstances I was asked to sign it).”

Earlier, she said that she was “honestly very scared” for herself and her children because she had taken instructions to create false documents for a deal that had not taken place. She explained she was afraid she may be prosecuted and sent to jail while her children were young and in school.

“To be honest, I have come to a stage where I am ready to be honest with everything that happened, and I’m mentally prepared to be punished for this... We (my husband, myself and my children) all agreed that it is better to come clean,” she told the court.

Mr Singh asked: “Based on your evidence, you are hoping that by giving your evidence the way you have, you are hoping you won’t be charged?”

Madam Seng replied: “No. I am hoping that by giving true evidence, I won’t be charged.”

On the inconsistency in her recollection of the circumstances behind the Unipec transaction, Mr Singh said: “And so, it appears that you, a self-confessed liar, wants the court to believe that you are capable of telling the truth?”

She replied: “Yes, I hope the court will give me a second chance because I am telling the truth now.”

Last Thursday, Madam Seng testified she had given instructions to other Hin Leong staff to create fake documents relating to a transaction with Unipec Singapore.

In her testimony last week on the Unipec discounting request, she said Lim had told her he was about to close a deal with Unipec, but he wanted to discount the receivables first. When asked to recall the words used by Lim, her answer in Mandarin translates as “we can use the invoice and send it to the bank and collect the money from the bank first”.

Madam Seng also testified how she used another signature of hers to sign on the bill of lading that was submitted as a supporting document for the discounting request.

The purpose of these fake documents was to “discount the receivables” even though the shipment had not been delivered at the time the documents were made, she said earlier on Monday during her examination-in-chief by Deputy Chief Prosecutor Christopher Ong.

Discounting refers to accounts receivable financing, where a seller “sells” unpaid invoices to a financial institution and typically receives a slightly discounted upfront payment. This means that the seller would receive payment from the buyer only at a later date.

If the discounting application was approved, HSBC would pay Hin Leong the invoice amount and charge a fee for the transaction.

But Mr Singh cast doubts on her recollection of what Lim had said to her on March 19, 2020, regarding the Unipec transaction and discounting request.

“You’ve already agreed that you remember broadly what Mr Lim said. Your recollection is based on what Mr Lim broadly said, and your own belief of what his own intentions and objectives were. Correct?,” he asked.

Madam Seng replied: “I don’t agree because it was so clear to me Mr Lim’s instruction (was) to discount the Unipec receivables earlier when the shipment had not occurred.”

On the creation of the fake documents, Mr Singh asked: “Your evidence is at the time you signed all of this and gave instructions, you believed that what you were doing was wrong?

“You believed it was wrong because false documents were being created with your knowledge and at your direction?”

She replied: “I believe it was wrong because the deal had not been closed yet. But it was my honest belief that Mr Lim was going to close an actual deal.”

Madam Seng is also one of four defendants, along with three members of the Lim family, in a civil lawsuit over US$85.3 million in damages brought by HSBC in relation to the Unipec and CAO discounting requests.

The suit alleges that the defendants had fraudulently deceived HSBC into discounting two invoices including the Unipec invoice, and that Madam Seng is also liable for the amounts discounted for that invoice, among other things.

The hearing continues.