Singapore court reduces oil tycoon OK Lim’s prison sentence to 13½ years on appeal

The founder of failed oil trading firm Hin Leong Trading, 84-year-old Lim Oon Kuin, had his jail term cut by four years after a partially successful appeal against his conviction and sentence in a criminal case.Singapore’s High Court on Wednesday rejected his appeal against conviction but allowed his appeal against his sentence of 17½ years. Justice Hoo Sheau Peng said this sentence, when considering his age and the fact he was unlikely to reoffend, was crushing, even with remission.She reduced it to 13½ years. Lim, who is better known as OK Lim, listened to proceedings via a Chinese interpreter in a wheelchair, with his eyes closed.Justice Hoo rejected submissions by the defence, led by Senior Counsel Davinder Singh, that judicial mercy ought to be exercised in this case, with reference to the case of Hotel Properties founder Ong Beng Seng.Lim Oon Kuin, founder of oil trading group Hin Leong, is interviewed in Singapore on June 5, 2013. Photo: ReutersShe found the analogy drawn by the defence to be “misguided” and said Lim’s case was not an exceptional one to warrant judicial mercy as Ong’s was.