KPA Engineering showed signs of financial woes in 2023

25/06/2026 2 Views

SINGAPORE – Embattled air-conditioner servicing company KPA Engineering had shown signs of financial difficulties as early as 2023, when HSBC registered a charge against the company over unpaid debts.

This was followed by DBS Bank, which separately filed two charges with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) against the firm.

KPA Engineering, SK Industries and VVR Plant Engineering are three firms linked to an alleged migrant worker abandonment case which has seen more than 400 foreign nationals, primarily from India and Bangladesh, seeking help for housing arrangements and unpaid wages.

The Straits Times had earlier identified Indian national Ramu Palani Velu, a Singapore permanent resident, as the director of the three companies. He is also a director of four other firms, also in air-con, plumbing and building services.

Ramu is said to have left Singapore.

A search of ACRA’s records showed that HSBC had filed a charge against KPA Engineering in September 2023. This was removed after the debt was repaid.

But in September 2024, DBS Bank registered two separate charges against the company to secure all monies.

A charge is a form of security interest held by a lender or creditor to secure loan repayment from the borrower.

If the borrower cannot repay a loan, the creditor can use the charge to claim the company’s assets, which may include land, buildings, machinery, shares and intellectual property.

A charge is filed with ACRA. It is removed from the business registry records via another filing to indicate it has been satisfied.

This requires the debtor to pay off the debt fully or at least partially.

In the case of KPA Engineering, the two DBS charges remain on the record, indicating it has not paid up since 2024.

A senior bank executive, who declined to be named, said that banks typically send a letter of demand and may follow up with a writ of summons when payments are overdue.

A charge may then be registered with ACRA before any winding-up action is taken.

When a company is liquidated, assets are distributed to creditors which have filed fixed charges before the others, such as employees.

There was no record of charges filed against the other companies linked to Ramu on ACRA’s registry.

Checks on corporate intelligence platform Sayari showed that Ramu had registered KPA Engineering in 2014. Krishnamurthy Sundaramoorthy, an Indian national, became a co-director of the firm in 2020.

SK Industries was registered in 2023, while VVR Plant Engineering, formerly called VMD Integrated, registered Ramu as director in 2025 when he bought over the company from a family here.

More than 400 workers from the three firms are being helped by the Ministry of Manpower, the Migrant Workers’ Centre and the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management.

The agencies, as well as tripartite partners, are helping the workers with job placements, housing arrangements and finding resolution for their wage issues.

ST has contacted DBS about the charges filed against KPA Engineering.

The firm is facing a possible traffic offence charge, with the case to be heard in court on July 8.