Court upheld the firing but blocked $183,000 bonus forfeiture
A Singapore CEO was sacked without notice after a $10,000 work-trip advance unravelled into allegations of misappropriating more than half a million dollars.
The Singapore High Court delivered its decision on 6 January 2026, ruling largely in favour of the employer in a dispute that started with a single cash advance and spiralled into allegations of misappropriated funds totalling more than half a million dollars.
The case involved Kanan Packrisamy, who joined Herbal Pharm Pte Ltd on 19 March 2018 as Chief Operating Officer and later rose to become CEO of HP and Herbal Pharm+ Asia Pacific LLP with effect from 24 November 2022. He was also overall-in-charge of finance, with authority to approve payments from the HP Entities' bank accounts of up to $30,000 per transaction.
Mr Vejaiyan, the sole director and shareholder of HP and the manager and principal partner of the related LLPs in the group, is described in the judgment as the controlling mind behind the HP Entities.
Things began to unwind in early December 2023, when Mr Vejaiyan asked Mr Kanan to account for a $10,000 cash advance he had drawn in May 2023 for a work trip to Africa. Mr Kanan had prepared and approved a payment voucher for $10,000 and then accessed the UOB platform and transferred $10,000 from the account of Herbal Pharm Organics LLP to his personal bank account.
The employer's position was that Mr Kanan never obtained prior approval and could...
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