Singapore prosecutors informed a court on Thursday that the case involving Singapore-based firms allegedly supplying U.S. servers to Malaysia centers around transactions amounting to $390 million. Three men are accused of deceiving Dell and Super Micro by misrepresenting the servers' intended destination.
Singaporean media reports have connected the case to a possible transfer of Nvidia's artificial intelligence chips to the Chinese AI company DeepSeek. Concerns have risen in the United States about whether DeepSeek, known for its groundbreaking AI model in January, is utilizing prohibited U.S. chips.
While Singapore authorities noted that Nvidia chips may have been in the servers, they did not confirm if the chips were the high-end semiconductors subject to U.S. export regulations.
In response to inquiries about a potential link to DeepSeek, Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam stated last week that he preferred not to speculate.
The three suspects are Singaporeans Aaron Woon, 41, and Alan Wei, 49, and Chinese national Li Ming, 51. Prosecutors disclosed that they suspect Wei paid dividends totalling tens of millions, with Woon allegedly receiving a multi-million-dollar bonus.
Regarding the allegations, Shashi Nathan, Wei's lawyer, requested evidence from prosecutors concerning the value of Wei's purported fraudulent dealings. Li's lawyer declined to comment, and Woon's lawyer did not respond immediately to a request for a statement.
This case is part of a broader police inquiry in Singapore involving 22 individuals and companies suspected of fraudulent activities. Six additional individuals have been taken into custody.
Prosecutors also revealed that the police are examining whether other suppliers are implicated in similar offenses. Malaysia has also initiated an investigation to assess its legal implications in this matter.
The accused individuals are scheduled to appear in court again on May 2.