A 43-year-old Indian national, Palanivel Vijayasankar, has been sentenced to 18 months in jail for misappropriating over S$100,000 worth of electrical cable from a worksite and selling it to a third party for S$45,000. Palanivel, who was an operations manager at Donjon, an electrical engineering company, was tasked with supervising a project at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) in 2021.
According to TodayOnline, As part of the project, Palanivel arranged for the procurement and delivery of 5,312m of XLPE electrical cable to the worksite. However, an inspection by the company’s surveyor revealed that only 4,020m of cable was used, leaving a discrepancy of 1,292m. The total value of the missing cable was S$102,931.93.
When confronted about the discrepancy, Palanivel initially claimed that the excess cable was already used or left unused at the worksite. However, he later confessed to selling the excess cable to a third party for personal gain, along with his colleague Andiyappan Palanivelu, who is also from India.
The two men had plotted to sell off the excess cable and split the sale proceeds in half. Andiyappan sold the cable to a third-party buyer between February and April for around S$45,000, and handed Palanivel around S$22,500 as his share of the sale proceeds. Palanivel remitted the money back to India and cannot make restitution.
Palanivel pleaded guilty to a charge of criminal breach of trust and was sentenced to 18 months in jail. His colleague, Andiyappan, is a co-accused in the case and has yet to return to Singapore after leaving on April 24.
This case highlights the importance of trust and accountability in the workplace, particularly in positions of responsibility. Palanivel’s actions not only betrayed the trust of his employer but also resulted in a significant financial loss. The sentence handed down serves as a warning to others who may be tempted to engage in similar behavior.