SG is smuggling hub

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3 men charged with fraud in case allegedly linked to Nvidia chips​

The trio’s cases have been adjourned to March 7.

Feb 27, 2025

SINGAPORE - Three men were charged with fraud on Feb 27 in a case allegedly linked to chipmaker Nvidia.

This was after Singapore came under the spotlight in a US investigation into whether Chinese start-up DeepSeek had circumvented US restrictions on advanced Nvidia chips by buying them from third parties in other countries, including the Republic.

The men are Singaporeans Aaron Woon Guo Jie, 41, and Alan Wei Zhaolun, 49, and Chinese national Li Ming, 51.

Li allegedly committed fraud in 2023 on an unnamed supplier of servers, identified in court documents as “the items”.

He is accused of making a false representation that a company called Luxuriate Your Life would be the end user of the items.

Wei and Woon are accused of working together in 2024 to commit fraud on an unnamed supplier of servers, also referred to in court documents as “the items”.

The two men allegedly made a false representation that the items would not be transferred to a person other than the authorised ultimate consignee of end users.

The trio’s cases have been adjourned to March 7.

In January, DeepSeek launched a free artificial intelligence (AI) assistant at a fraction of the cost of US models as it uses less data.

Within days, it became the most downloaded app in Apple’s App Store and stirred concerns about the US’ lead in AI, sparking a rout that wiped around US$1 trillion (S$1.34 trillion) off the value of US technology stocks.

US lawmakers had in January singled out Singapore in a letter urging National Security Adviser Mike Waltz to subject countries to strict licensing requirements if they were not willing to crack down on shipments to China.

The scrutiny of Singapore was heightened after Nvidia’s latest financial results showed that 22 per cent of its third-quarter billings were to the Republic, making it the biggest buyer of its chips after the US.

On Feb 18, Second Minister for Trade and Industry Tan See Leng told Parliament that products sold by Nvidia to Singapore that were physically delivered here represent less than 1 per cent of the chipmaker’s overall revenue.

Dr Tan also said that the remainder of Nvidia’s revenue billed to business entities in Singapore did not involve physical shipments into the country.

Responding to questions from Mr Yip Hon Weng (Yio Chu Kang), Ms Joan Pereira (Tanjong Pagar GRC) and Workers’ Party MP Jamus Lim (Sengkang GRC), Dr Tan also said that Nvidia’s products are mainly deployed here for major enterprises and the Government.

Dr Tan added: “If a company in Singapore is engaged in deceptive or dishonest practices to evade export controls that it is subject to, we will investigate, and we will take the appropriate action in accordance with Singapore laws.

“It is in our national interest to secure access to leading-edge technology and to maintain the integrity of our business environment.”

Responding to supplementary questions from Associate Professor Lim about the role of foreign policy in Singapore’s trade decisions, Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said Singapore is not legally obliged to enforce the unilateral export measures of countries around the world.

“But we will enforce the multilateral agreed-upon export control regimes,” he said.

 

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Servers likely containing Nvidia chips exported to Malaysia may have been bound elsewhere: Shanmugam​

Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam said the servers likely contained items subjected to export controls by the US.

Mar 03, 2025

SINGAPORE – An anonymous tip-off about computer servers that might contain Nvidia chips being exported to Malaysia, and possibly to an unknown final destination, sparked a police investigation.

This alert did not come from any country or sovereign entity, but the claim was serious enough to get the Singapore authorities to launch an independent investigation, said Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam at a media briefing on March 3 at the Treasury.

Mr Shanmugam said preliminary investigations showed servers from US firms Dell and Supermicro were sent to Singapore-based companies. The servers were then exported to Malaysia.

He said these servers likely contained items subject to export controls by the US.

But whether they ended up in Malaysia, or another country, is being looked into, he added.

He was referring to a case allegedly linked to chipmaker Nvidia, which saw three men charged with fraud on Feb 27.

Mr Shanmugam said: “The question is whether Malaysia was a final destination or, from Malaysia, it went to somewhere else, which we do not know for certain at this point.


“But we assess that there may have been false representation on the final destination of the servers.”

He said that if there were false representations within Singapore about the servers’ final destination, then an offence under Singapore laws has been committed.


He added that Singapore has contacted Malaysia and the US for more information.

The Straits Times asked if the case was linked to questions posed surrounding Singapore’s role in Nvidia’s sales that were addressed in Parliament on Feb 18 following the release of the company’s latest financial report.

Mr Shanmugam said he could not reveal too much as investigations are ongoing.

But he said: “We assess that the servers may contain Nvidia chips. I think that’s the highest I can put it at, at this point.”

Mr Shanmugam later said: “We will always be happy to work with any country that discloses information to us which suggests that our laws have been breached, and we will take firm and decisive action.”

The US is looking into the potential circumvention of its export controls for advanced Nvidia chips, after China’s artificial intelligence (AI) firm DeepSeek launched a free AI tool in January that wiped around US$1 trillion (S$1.35 trillion) off the value of US tech stocks.

This came despite the tight restrictions that the US had imposed on semiconductor firms’ exports to China.

Lawmakers in the US had singled out Singapore in a letter in January urging National Security Adviser Mike Waltz to subject countries to strict licensing requirements if they were not willing to crack down on shipments to China.

On Feb 27, three men were each handed one count of fraud.

Singaporeans Aaron Woon Guo Jie, 41, and Alan Wei Zhaolun, 49, and Chinese national Li Ming, 51, had allegedly committed the offences between 2023 and 2024.

Mr Shanmugam said Singapore will remain an open and inclusive business hub, but local laws must be respected.

He added: “We welcome reputable businesses to operate from here, to be part of our business environment, and to contribute to our growth.

“But we will not tolerate individuals and companies violating our laws, or taking advantage of their association with Singapore to circumvent export controls of other countries.”

The men who were charged on Feb 27 face a jail term of up to 20 years, a fine, or both.

According to court documents, Chinese national Li had allegedly committed fraud in 2023 against an unnamed supplier of servers by lying that the procured servers would be going to a company called Luxuriate Your Life.

Business records in Singapore show the company was incorporated in January 2021.

An archived page of the company’s website, which has since been taken down, indicates it dabbled in network equipment sales, internet data centres, network communications and computing equipment.

Wei and Woon were charged with conspiring to commit fraud against another unnamed supplier of servers by lying about where the procured servers would end up.

Business records show Wei listed as the director of several firms in Singapore, including Achieva Tech Allianz, Altrics Global Services, Aperia Cloud Services and its subsidiaries, A-Speed Infotech and Aurica.

Woon is listed as the director of car dealership Ace Autohaus. He also owns pet food shop Dane’s Cosmo.

All three will return to the State Courts on March 7.

Nvidia’s latest financial results showed that 22 per cent of its third-quarter billings were to Singapore, making the Republic the biggest buyer of its chips after the US.

On Feb 18, Second Minister for Trade and Industry Tan See Leng told Parliament that products sold by Nvidia to Singapore that were physically delivered here represent less than 1 per cent of the chipmaker’s overall revenue.

He added that the remainder of Nvidia’s revenue billed to business entities in Singapore did not involve physical shipments into the country.

He said that Nvidia’s products are mainly deployed here for major enterprises and the Government.

Dr Tan added: “If a company in Singapore is engaged in deceptive or dishonest practices to evade export controls that it is subject to, we will investigate, and we will take the appropriate action in accordance with Singapore laws.

“It is in our national interest to secure access to leading-edge technology and to maintain the integrity of our business environment.”

Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said during the same Parliament session that Singapore was not legally obliged to enforce the unilateral export measures of countries around the world.

“But we will enforce the multilateral agreed-upon export control regimes,” he added.