SINGAPORE: The former chief financial officer of commodities firm Agritrade International was indicted in court on Friday November 26 with 12 more counts of allegedly deceiving seven financial institutions worth $ 359 million (492 million Singaporean dollars), police said.

Investigations by the commercial affairs department into the company revealed that Lulu Lim Beng Kim allegedly deceived financial institutions into believing that the consolidated financial statements of Agritrade International and its subsidiaries between 2016 and 2018 had been audited.

It was “a fact that she knew to be wrong,” police said in a statement.

“By such deception, Lulu Lim had dishonestly instigated the seven financial institutions to hand over money to Agritrade International via credit facilities,” the police added.

The total sum involved in the 12 charges was US $ 359 million in drawdowns on credit and loan facilities, police said.

Lim now faces a total of 14 counts – 13 counts of fraud and one count of aiding and abetting account forgery. Police said investigations were ongoing.

Lim was first charged in September with cheating and dishonestly inducing the delivery of property.

The charges relate to Lim “deceiving the Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, Singapore Branch, into believing that 19 bills of lading had been legally and validly pledged in favor of the bank,” police said.

This led the bank to pay US $ 19.9 million to an Agritrade International supplier in October 2019.

A bill of lading refers to a document issued by a carrier to acknowledge receipt of the cargo to be shipped.

Each offense of cheating is punishable by imprisonment of up to 10 years and a fine. Anyone found guilty of falsifying accounts can be sentenced to imprisonment for up to 10 years, a fine, or both.