Singapore has charged three individuals with fraud, in a case that local media have associated with the transfer of Nvidia's advanced chips from Singapore to the Chinese artificial intelligence firm DeepSeek.
The United States is investigating whether DeepSeek has been utilizing U.S. chips, reportedly not sanctioned for export to China, which was reported earlier this year.
This Singaporean case is part of a broader police inquiry involving 22 individuals and companies suspected of deceptive practices, with reports indicating organized smuggling of AI chips to China from various countries, including Singapore.
According to Channel News Asia, the charges are connected to the alleged movement of Nvidia chips from Singapore for use by DeepSeek, although the source was not disclosed.
Singapore's government has not responded immediately to inquiries regarding any connection between the charges, Nvidia, and DeepSeek.
The charge documents allege that two Singaporeans, Aaron Woon Guo Jie, 41, and Alan Wei Zhaolun, 49, conspired to commit fraud by making false representations to a server supplier in 2024, intending to transfer items to unauthorized recipients.
The third individual charged is Chinese national Li Ming, 51, accused of fraudulently asserting that a Singapore-registered company, Luxuriate Your Life Pte Ltd, was the end user of the items in 2023.
DeepSeek, Nvidia, and Luxuriate Your Life have not responded to requests for comments.
If convicted, the accused could face a jail term of up to 20 years, a fine, or both.
The specifics of the case, including the items in question and the server supplier's identity, were not provided in the police statements or charge documents.
In a recent statement, police announced the arrest of nine individuals following a joint operation with customs authorities, seizing records from 22 locations.
Singapore ranks as Nvidia's second-largest market after the United States, comprising 18% of its total revenue, with shipments to Singapore contributing less than 2% of the company's revenue due to it being a hub for invoicing sales to other countries.
In a recent statement, Singapore's foreign minister affirmed the enforcement of multilateral export control regulations, emphasizing a zero-tolerance policy towards evasion, deception, false declarations, or misrepresentation.