Unpaid workers case: Director behind firms files for bankruptcy

AI generated

SINGAPORE - The company director at the centre of an investigation over claims of unpaid salaries linked to over 400 migrant workers has filed for bankruptcy.

Indian national and Singapore permanent resident Ramu Palani Velu will have his application heard on Aug 13.

He is the director of seven local companies which provide air-conditioning, plumbing and building services.

The firms include KPA Engineering, SK Industries and VVR Plant Engineering.

A total of 407 workers from these three companies lodged claims that they were owed wages, with some having not been paid for more than two months.

The case first made headlines when more than 100 workers turned up at the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) office in Bendemeer on June 22.

More workers subsequently came forward, with the National Trades Union Congress and the Migrant Workers’ Centre stepping in to support the affected workers.

MOM is investigating the three companies for offences under the Employment Act and the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act.

Employers who fail to pay salaries may face fines of between $3,000 and $15,000 per charge, and up to six months’ jail.

MOM previously said the affected workers who required alternative accommodation have been rehoused, and that jobs with new employers have been secured for the workers.

Ramu was out of Singapore when the incident blew up, but returned on June 26. He is currently assisting in the investigations.

In a written reply to Parliamentary Questions on July 7, Manpower Minister Tan See Leng said five workers from KPA Engineering had at different points in 2025 approached the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management.

The cases were resolved within a week with the workers receiving payment from their employer.

Tan said four other workers from KPA Engineering had filed claims in May and before June 22, adding that the cases were in the midst of being processed.

MOM was alerted to claims of unpaid salaries when they spoke to KPA Engineering employees who were affected by a dormitory eviction notice on June 8.

Tan said that after MOM officers spoke to the workers, they learnt that many of them were facing salary delays.

MOM then tried contacting the company’s directors. This was before the workers approached MOM en masse on June 22.

In his reply, Tan said that MOM had previously curtailed KPA Engineering and VVR Plant Engineering’s work pass privileges in April and early June due to levy defaults.

Both companies have not been able to hire new foreign workers since then.

Tan said SK Industries had work pass privileges curtailed after defaulting on its levies, but they were reinstated once the owed levies were paid.

He added that MOM will continue to review and strengthen its processes to ensure all workers are paid their salaries on time, incorporating the lessons from the ongoing case.