Singapore’s police seize luxury bungalow in AI chip probe

SINGAPORE: Singapore police said Wednesday they had seized a luxury bungalow worth more than US$40 million as part of fraud investigations linked to the alleged transfer of AI chips in breach of US export controls.

The probe centres on two Singaporeans, Aaron Woon and Alan Wei, and a Chinese national, Li Ming, who were charged last year with fraud for allegedly concealing the actual end-user of servers supplied by US firms Dell and Super Micro.

Investigators filed additional fraud charges on Wednesday against Woon and Li as well as Jenny Lim, the CFO of a firm embroiled in the case.

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 S$55 million (US$42.4 million), the force 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 the servers in question may have contained advanced Nvidia artificial intelligence chips.

They were shipped from Singapore to Malaysia, though their ultimate destination remained unclear, interior minister K Shanmugam has said.

Some media reports have suggested the equipment may have been intended for China.

US restrictions aimed at maintaining a technological edge limit the export of advanced semiconductors to China.

Bloomberg News reported last year that US officials were probing whether Chinese firm DeepSeek had obtained advanced Nvidia chips via intermediaries in Singapore to circumvent these 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.