Scenario Deloitte and Hin Leong Trading Now collapsed oil trader Hin Leong Trading, which owes creditors more than US$3.5 billion, is suing Deloitte & Touche in Singapore's High Court over allegations the auditing firm failed to detect serious irregularities in its financial statements for over 16 years. Deloitte had audited the company's books until its fall last year when its founder, Lim Oon Kuin, admitted that trading losses of US$808 million were not accounted for in its financial statements. "Deloitte failed to detect the irregularities and the material misstatements," court documents read. "Deloitte acted in breach of the terms of its engagement with the plaintiff." According to the suit, Deloitte issued clean reports for the years between 2014 and 2019, despite the company actually being insolvent since at least 2012, with assets in later statements fraudulently exaggerated. Lim has been charged with forgery, which he disputes, and assets including bank accounts, properties and club memberships have been frozen by the court. "We stand behind the quality of our work," a Deloitte spokesman said in response to the suit. hp 0 E