Singapore police yesterday said that they had seized a luxury bungalow worth more than US$40 million as part of fraud investigations linked to the alleged transfer of artificial intelligence (AI) chips in breach of US export controls.
The probe centers on two Singaporeans, Aaron Woon and Alan Wei, and a Chinese national, Li Ming, who were last year charged with fraud for allegedly concealing the actual end-user of servers supplied by US firms Dell Technologies Inc and Super Micro Computer Inc.
Investigators yesterday filed additional fraud charges against Woon and Li as well as Jenny Lim, the chief financial officer of a firm embroiled in the case.
Photo: Reuters
Police expect to file further charges next week against Wei, including money laundering.
As part of the probe, police have issued a prohibition of disposal order on the luxury property owned by Wei and valued at 55 million Singapore dollars (US$42.4 million), police said in a statement, adding that they had also seized funds from bank accounts under scrutiny.
Four companies are also facing fraud-related charges in the case.
Last year, authorities said that the servers in question might have contained advanced Nvidia AI chips.
They were shipped from Singapore to Malaysia, though their ultimate destination remained unclear, Singaporean Minister for Home Affairs K. Shanmugam has said.
Some media reports have suggested the equipment might have been intended for China.
US restrictions aimed at maintaining a technological edge limit the export of advanced semiconductors to China.
Bloomberg News last year reported that US officials were probing whether Chinese firm DeepSeek (深度求索) had obtained advanced Nvidia chips via intermediaries in Singapore to circumvent those curbs.
Last week, Malaysian authorities said they had foiled an attempt to smuggle advanced AI chips through the country’s main airport, seizing 72 servers worth nearly US$13 million.
The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Friday said it would ban the import of more equipment from a group of Chinese manufacturers, the latest move by Washington to crack down on Chinese-made electronic gear. The move expands an FCC ban imposed in 2022 on new models of telecommunications and video surveillance equipment made by Huawei Technologies Co (華為), ZTE Corp (中興通訊), Hytera Communications Corp (海能達通信), Hikvision Digital Technology Co (海康威視) and Dahua Technology Co (大華科技), citing national security risks. The expanded ban includes old models, not just those designed starting in late 2022, of equipment used for “public safety, security of
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