SINGAPORE - Singapore's highest court has dismissed an appeal by oil tycoon Lim Oon Kuin and his two children, closing another chapter in the spectacular collapse of Hin Leong Trading and Ocean Tankers, once among Asia's largest oil trading and shipping firms.

Lim, the founder of the defunct companies, his daughter Lim Huey Ching and his son Lim Chee Meng Evan had been successfully sued for breach of fiduciary duties by the court-appointed managers of Ocean Tankers, a company owned by Lim and his daughter, with the son also serving as a director. The family appealed against the ruling, but the Court of Appeal was unsparing in its rejection.

In a judgment that pulled no punches, Judge Andrew Phang Boon Leong said the entire conduct of the litigation had led to an immensely unsatisfactory state of affairs. He accused the Lims of repackaging what were essentially the same arguments raised before the trial judge, describing the effort as pouring old wine into new wineskins, coupled with an impermissible attempt to resile from admissions they had unreservedly made.

The lawsuit centred on two payments totalling US$19.02 million made by Ocean Tankers from the firm's accounts to the family's personal accounts, transfers that were later uncovered by the judicial managers. Both Hin Leong Trading and Ocean Tankers went under judicial management in 2020 after oil prices collapsed, exposing a massive hole in the group's finances.

Separately, the elder Lim faces criminal charges for fraudulent disbursements, a case that continues to wind its way through the courts. The Hin Leong saga has been one of the most damaging corporate scandals in Singapore's history, with creditors including some of the world's biggest banks left nursing losses running into billions of dollars.

The family's downfall was as dramatic as its rise. Lim Oon Kuin had built Hin Leong from a single truck into a trading empire, earning a reputation as one of Singapore's most formidable oil traders. But the group's aggressive expansion, funded by heavy borrowing, left it fatally exposed when crude prices cratered.

The Court of Appeal's dismissal reinforced the accountability of directors even within family-controlled firms, a point of particular resonance in Asia, where family businesses dominate the corporate landscape. For Singapore's financial community, the judgment was a reminder that the Hin Leong wreckage is still being cleared, and that those at the helm cannot walk away from the consequences of how they ran their companies.