AN executive at Unipec Singapore, who once dealt regularly with Hin Leong Trading (HLT)‘s “big boss” Lim Oon Kuin for trades involving gas oil and diesel products, denied ever receiving an e-mail that was purportedly sent to him by HLT’s trading team.

The e-mail contained a purported US$55.8 million contract for the sale of ultra-low sulphur diesel by HLT to Unipec that was apparently concluded in March 2020.

“I have never received this e-mail. When the police came to ask us – our company – the IT department and I did a check on servers and historical records. No such e-mail was found,” said Unipec Singapore’s deputy general manager Peter Li Yue. Unipec Singapore is wholly owned by China’s energy-based trading company Unipec.