Convicted Hin Leong founder O.K. Lim puts up third GCB for sale for $43m
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The GCB at 1K Tanglin Hill comprises 5+1 bedrooms, living and dining areas, a swimming pool, a landscaped garden and a large car porch.
PHOTO: KNIGHT FRANK
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SINGAPORE - A third good class bungalow (GCB) belonging to convicted Hin Leong founder Lim Oon Kuin has been put up for sale for $43 million, just seven months after his bungalow in the prime First/Third Avenue GCB area was sold for a little under $26.5 million.
The 81-year-old former tycoon, who has been convicted of three cheating and forgery charges and is awaiting sentencing on Oct 3, jointly owns the 1,452.6 sq m or 15,636 sq ft GCB in the prestigious Tanglin Hill enclave with his daughter Lim Huey Ching.
The freehold two-storey detached house at 1K Tanglin Hill has a built-up area of about 8,110 sq ft and comprises 5+1 bedrooms, living and dining areas, as well as a swimming pool, a landscaped garden and a large car porch.
The tender for the GCB will close on July 19.
Mr Samuel Eyo, managing director of Lighthouse Property Consultants, said the guide price of $43 million, or $2,751 per sq ft (psf), is a fair price, given its prime location and limited supply.
“The last transaction in Tanglin Hill was in 2019, and some of the land in this enclave belongs to a prominent family, so supply is limited,” he said.
In 2019, a former board member of Xiaomi Corporation paid $31.5 million, or $1,915 psf, for a bungalow with land area of 16,446 sq ft along Tanglin Hill in the Ridley Park GCB area.
Lim’s other GCB at 5 Second Avenue was sold for $33.39 million in October 2021
His bungalow at 20 Third Avenue – sold in November 2023 to a Singapore family for $26.5 million
The Straits Times understands that the 50 per cent share that Lim had in the Third Avenue GCB, which he jointly owned with his son Evan Lim Chee Meng, will be subject to this court order to recoup US$3.5 billion (S$4.7 billion) in debt
This follows a lawsuit brought by Hin Leong’s liquidators
Lim, his two children, and his former personal assistant Serene Seng are also being sued by HSBC
Both cases are being jointly heard in an ongoing civil trial in the High Court.
In May 2024, Lim, better known as O.K. Lim, was found guilty of three charges
The remaining 127 charges were stood down and will be dealt with at a later stage.
He faces a jail term of up to 10 years and will also be liable to a fine for each charge of cheating and forgery.
Lim was found guilty of cheating HSBC, through his employees, by claiming that Hin Leong had entered into two contracts to sell oil to China Aviation Oil (Singapore), or CAO, and Unipec Singapore, and then applying for discounting of these purported transactions.
The court found that the two transactions were complete fabrications, concocted on Lim’s directions, and the discounting applications were supported by forged or fabricated documentation.
As a result, the bank was deceived into disbursing US$111.6 million to Hin Leong.
Ms Mary Sai, Knight Frank’s executive director for capital markets, who sold both of Lim’s properties in Second Avenue and Third Avenue, said: “There has been quite a bit of market buzz about GCBs of late.”
In April, Sea billionaire founder Forrest Li’s wife Ma Liqian acquired a $42.5 million bungalow
List Sotheby’s International Realty’s analysis of data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s Realis platform showed that there were 10 deals in GCB areas worth $233 million from January to June 21, 2024.
In 2023, there were 18 such deals totalling $432.5 million, compared with 44 bungalow deals totalling $1.19 billion in 2022.
