Three men, including two Singaporeans, were charged with fraud on Thursday (27 Feb) in connection with an alleged scheme involving Nvidia chips, following raids across 22 locations by Singapore authorities.
According to CNA, the arrested men are linked to the alleged illegal movement of Nvidia chips from Singapore to Chinese artificial intelligence firm DeepSeek.
This case follows a US investigation into whether DeepSeek circumvented US export restrictions on chips by purchasing them from third parties in other countries, including Singapore, reported The Straits Times.
The two Singaporeans — Aaron Woon Guo Jie, 41, and Alan Wei Zhaolun, 49 — have been charged with criminal conspiracy to commit fraud on a supplier of servers.
Woon and Wei, accused of working together, allegedly falsely declared in 2024 that the chips would not be transferred to anyone other than the “authorised ultimate consignee of end users”, reported CNA.
The third individual, Chinese national Li Ming, 51, was charged with fraud by false representation for allegedly claiming in 2023 that the chips would be used by a company called Luxuriate Your Life.
Their cases have been adjourned to 7 March.
The arrests followed a joint operation by the Singapore Police Force and Singapore Customs, during which documentary and electronic records were seized. Nine individuals were arrested in total.
Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) has since clarified that it expects US companies, like Nvidia, to comply with US export controls and Singapore’s domestic legislation.
“We have always upheld the rule of law, and acted decisively and firmly against individuals and companies that flout the rules,” said MTI.
If convicted, the accused could face up to 20 years in prison, a fine, or both for fraud by false representation.
Authorities are also investigating whether offences under the Customs Act and the Regulation of Imports and Exports Act have been committed by companies linked to the men.
Police investigations are ongoing against the other people arrested.
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Featured image adapted from Canva, for illustrative purposes only.