Cop who forged documents linked to cases he had investigated gets 42 weeks’ jail

SINGAPORE – Between June 2021 and February 2023, a police investigation officer (IO) committed offences including forging signatures on an internal work-related document.

S. Vikneshvaran Subramaniam, 36, also forged four statements from accused people and three statements from parties including crime victims across five case files.

Court documents stated that the cases impacted by his actions had to be re-investigated, and fresh statements from the parties involved were recorded.

The case outcomes were unaffected by the forgeries, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Melissa Heng.

On May 12, Vikneshvaran was sentenced to 42 weeks’ jail after he pleaded guilty to four counts of forgery.

Five other charges were considered during his sentencing.

Responding to queries from The Straits Times on May 12, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) said that the staff sergeant had been suspended from duty.

An SPF spokesperson added: “(We) will commence internal action against him... (Our officers) are expected to uphold the law and maintain the highest standards of conduct and integrity. We deal sternly with officers who break the law, including charging them in court.”

DPP Heng told the court that Vikneshvaran was posted to the Investigation Branch at Jurong Police Division in August 2019.

As an IO, his tasks included recording statements from accused people and witnesses, as well as handling properties seized during investigations.

She added that an IO would ordinarily have to deal with seized properties after the cases conclude.

This includes handling the return of a seized property to its rightful owner.

The recipient would then have to sign on an acknowledgement form, known as the “NP323”.

One of the cases Vikneshvaran investigated involved a man who was found with another person’s identity card in his possession.

The matter was concluded in March 2022, and there was a court order for the card to be returned to its rightful owner.

However, the male owner told Vikneshvaran that he did not want to receive the card as he had already made a replacement.

On April 12 that year, Vikneshvaran signed on an NP323 with the owner’s purported signature.

He had done so with the intention of causing it to be believed that the owner had acknowledged the return of the card.

After that, Vikneshvaran presented the forged NP323 to a store officer, and closed the matter.

By doing so, Vikneshvaran did not have to apply for a fresh court order for the card to be disposed.

Separately, Vikneshvaran was also tasked to take over the investigation of a case, the details of which were not disclosed in court documents.

While preparing for a trial linked to the matter, a prosecutor asked him to record a statement from a female victim.

Between Nov 14 and 21 in 2022, Vikneshvaran contacted the victim and interviewed her over the phone.

However, he did not tell the woman that he was recording a statement from her.

He then made a document, which was purported to be the statement, and left it unsigned.

He later e-mailed the statement to the prosecutor, the court heard.

The prosecutor handling the case linked to the victim later interviewed the woman, who stated that she had never met Vikneshvaran, and that he had not recorded the statement from her.

Another IO recorded the statement from the victim soon after.

In another incident, Vikneshvaran was tasked to be the IO for a case involving a man suspected of stealing copper wires. Vikneshvaran also had to record a statement from him.

On or around Dec 19, 2022, he contacted the suspect and interviewed him over the phone.

Vikneshvaran did not inform the man that he was recording a statement from him.

Vikneshvaran then made a statement which was purported to be one recorded from the man, and forged the latter’s signature on the document.

Following this forgery, another IO contacted the man and a fresh statement was recorded later.

DPP Heng said: “The fresh statement stated that (the man) sold the stolen copper wires for between $90 to $100, whereas the forged statement stated that (he) sold the stolen copper wires for $10.”

Court documents did not disclose the outcome of this theft case.

Vikneshvaran struck again when he was working as an IO on a matter involving another woman.

Details about the case were not disclosed in court documents.

On or around Dec 22, 2022, he interviewed the woman over the phone, but did not state that he was recording a statement from her.

He then made a statement, claiming that he had recorded it from her at Jurong Police Division.

After that, he told his officer-in-charge (OC) that investigations were completed, and that he had recorded the statement from the woman.

Vikneshvaran’s offences came to light when the female OC conducted a check on his desk in January 2023 and uncovered a bag containing case exhibits, including the identity card belonging to the man linked to the forged NP323.

The following month, the chief IO was tasked with reviewing all of the cases Vikneshvaran had investigated and handled during his entire stint as an IO.

Other IOs were also tasked to take over and review his ongoing matters.

DPP Heng said: “The accused’s offending spanned a considerable period of about 18 months... and pertained to seven case files that he investigated as an (IO for the SPF).”

Vikneshvaran was arrested in May 2025.

On May 12, defence lawyer Gino Hardial Singh from Abbots Chambers pleaded for his client to be given up to six months’ jail.

He said that according to an Institute of Mental Health report, Vikneshvaran was suffering from major depressive disorder and prolonged grief disorder at the time of his offences.

Stressing that his client had not obtained any financial benefits, Mr Singh added: “The report further supports that following his father’s sudden death, (Vikneshvaran) experienced sustained grief, guilt and psychological distress, compounded by mounting work pressures and accumulated case backlogs.

“His decision-making was impaired, and he took impermissible shortcuts in an attempt to cope.”

Vikneshvaran’s bail has been set at $20,000, and he is expected to begin serving his sentence on June 12.