Fifth person faces 41 charges in Singapore’s Nvidia-linked server probe

Shi Bingzhe has become the fifth person charged in Singapore’s Nvidia chips case, facing 41 money laundering charges involving server purchases. — AsiaOne pic

First Published: Friday, 13 Nov 2026 5:11 PM MYT

SINGAPORE, Nov 13 — A fifth individual has been charged with money laundering offences in relation to the Nvidia chips case.

Shi Bingzhe, 34, was handed 41 charges today (November 13), for consenting to the commission of fraud by false representation involving the purchase of servers.

This follows earlier charges handed to Jenny Lim, 51; Alan Wei Zhaolun, 49; Aaron Woon Guo Jie, 41; and, Chinese national Li Ming, 51.

Lim, Wei and Woon were charged for fraud and money laundering, while Li was charged with fraud and fraudulent trading.

Meanwhile, four firms — Aperia International, A-Speed Infotech, Aperia Cloud Services (II) and Luxuriate Your Life — were charged with false representation.

Shi was the director of Superphi and chief operating officer of NJ Global Financial when the two companies purportedly acquired a total of 917 servers from Aperia International across 41 transactions.

Police said today that Shi had reasonable grounds to believe that those servers represented benefits from Aperia International’s criminal conduct, namely fraud by false representation.

If found guilty of the charges, he could be jailed for up to 10 years, fined up to US$500,000 (RM2.04 million), or both — for each charge.

Following the latest charges today, the total number of individuals charged in court is now five, while six companies, including the two linked to Shi, have also been hauled to court.

The police said they take a serious view of the offences and will not hesitate to take firm action against businesses and individuals who engage in dishonest and criminal practices that contravene Singapore’s laws.

False representations of servers

Singapore launched an independent investigation last year, following an anonymous tip-off about computer servers that might contain Nvidia chips being exported to Malaysia, and possibly to an unknown final destination.

This alert did not come from any country or sovereign entity, but the claim was serious enough for authorities to launch an independent investigation, said Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam on March 3, 2025.

In January last year, China’s artificial intelligence (AI) firm DeepSeek launched a free AI tool that wiped out around US$1 trillion off the value of US tech stocks.

That, despite tight restrictions the US had imposed on semiconductor firms in their exports to China.

US lawmakers then singled out Singapore in a letter in January urging the then National Security Adviser Mike Waltz to subject countries to strict licensing requirements if they were not willing to crack down on shipments to China.

In Parliament last February, then Second Minister for Trade and Industry Dr Tan See Leng said that products sold by Nvidia to Singapore that were physically delivered here represented less than one per cent of the chipmaker’s overall revenue.

Dr Tan added the remainder of Nvidia’s revenue billed to business entities in Singapore did not involve physical shipments into the country.

He said Nvidia’s products are mainly deployed here for major enterprises and the Government.

Dr Tan added: “If a company in Singapore is engaged in deceptive or dishonest practices to evade export controls that it is subject to, we will investigate, and we will take the appropriate action in accordance with Singapore laws.

“It is in our national interest to secure access to leading-edge technology and to maintain the integrity of our business environment.”

Later the same month, Wei, Woon and Li were charged.

Megaspeed and Alice Huang

Spotlight on fraud allegedly involving Nvidia chips came under renewed spotlight after Singapore-based cloud computing firm Megaspeed’s former managing director Alice Huang’s affair with Nvidia chief executive officer (CEO) Jensen Huang was revealed.

In a statement yesterday night to provide updates on Singapore’s investigations, the Ministry of Home Affairs said Chinese businesswoman Huang, also known as Huang Le, was among those investigated.

She was being investigated for her suspected involvement in the possible offences in Singapore as she was then one of the key controllers of Megaspeed.

“Huang was not based in Singapore, and was not investigated for espionage,” the ministry stated.

As part of the investigations, the Republic sought information relating to Super Micro, a US-based supplier of servers.

This was required to tally information and records in other jurisdictions against the companies’ accounts.

The issue was raised by the police and Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) with US authorities in July last year, and again on several occasions with the US Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation.

“Despite these repeated requests, Singapore has to date received limited information or assistance in respect of the company,” MHA stated.

Without the information, the police and AGC concluded that there was insufficient evidence to establish whether Alice Huang had committed any offences relating to the possible inaccurate declarations for which Megaspeed was being investigated.

However, the police found that she had knowingly provided false information, and was issued with a stern warning and barred from re-entering Singapore.

“Other cases in the past have been dealt with in a similar way,” the ministry noted.

It added that Huang had purportedly provided such inaccurate information to downplay her role in Megaspeed.

Her passport was returned to her on February 26 this year, and she left Singapore the same day. — AsiaOne