OK Lim says he’s not responsible for employees’ ‘wrong and illegal’ actions
IN AN about-turn from an earlier statement given to the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD), fallen oil tycoon Lim Oon Kuin in court on Thursday (Nov 2) said that he would not be taking responsibility for the “wrong and illegal” actions of his former employees.
Lim was replying to questions from one of his lawyers, Navin Thevar of Davinder Singh Chambers, pertaining to several interviews that Lim – better known as OK Lim – had with the CAD. In one, Lim had said that he was “morally responsible” for mistakes made by his employees as he was the “big boss” of Hin Leong Trading.
Lim alleged that investigation officer (IO) Sim Wan Lin told him during an interview on Jul 17, 2020, that his employees were “young” and that “they still have a lot of future… and a long way ahead of them”.
“I recall what she meant was that she was reminding me not to say anything that would hurt their future,” Lim, who spoke in Mandarin, told the court on Thursday through an interpreter.
“But now, after listening in court, I know that these (documents) were forged by them,” Lim said. “Now that I know that… what they did is wrong and illegal, I will not take responsibility for their mistakes.” If he had known about the forgeries at the time of the interviews with the CAD, Lim added, he would have “said a different thing”.
Thevar said that he had, over Wednesday and Thursday’s hearings, taken Lim through six investigative statements that he had given the CAD between Apr 20, 2020 and Jun 11, 2021.
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The lawyer noted that Lim was unwell during all six interviews, adding that his ability to concentrate on and process information varied in each interview. When asked why, Lim said, among other things, that his spirits were low, and his interviews with the CAD had caused him to be “fearful and anxious”.
“I was worried about my wife and children,” Lim added. He also said he feels like a “useless person” as he needs someone to wait on him for daily activities. “When this thing happened at (Hin Leong), the pressure on me was very huge. I had insomnia every day, and it caused me a lot of mental pressure.”
“I had thoughts of ending my life,” Lim said.
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The court also heard that there were occasions when Lim had attended interviews with the CAD while he was unwell.
Back in June, Senior Counsel Davinder Singh of Davinder Singh Chambers had cast doubts on whether the CAD had adhered to protocol in their interviews with Lim. Singh had noted that Lim was on antidepressant medication as he was suffering from severe depression and anxiety.
During his cross-examination of IO Sim, Singh had attempted to establish that Lim was unfit for questioning by the police during the sessions led by Sim. These sessions had taken place between April and August 2020.
On Thursday, Thevar asked Lim about a number of questions that Sim had asked him during a handful of interviews with the CAD.
According to a statement recorded during an interview on Jul 17, Sim had asked Lim if he had anything to say before the interview commenced. Lim had replied that he was not feeling well.
“I told her when I came to record (the) statement: I feel fearful; I feel unwell. I cannot remember well and I become anxious,” Lim said in court.
According to the statement, Sim had asked Lim to let her know if he felt unwell at any point over the course of the interview. Lim had replied with an “okay”.
Thevar asked Lim to explain why he had said that, despite him not feeling well.
To this, Lim said he was worried that Sim would get angry as it would not be good for him. “Every day, there are phone calls. There is pressure for me and I cannot take it, because the police has the right,” said Lim.
Thevar also noted that the interview on Jul 17 lasted for 45 minutes, and there were a total of 33 questions recorded.
When queried by Thevar on what he felt about the pace of the interview conducted by Sim, Lim said that it was “very fast”.
In another interview on Aug 13 that year, Lim had also told Sim that he was feeling unwell due to poor concentration, and that his health was “deteriorating”.
Prosecutors led by Deputy Public Prosecutor Christopher Ong are expected to begin their cross examination of Lim on Friday.
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