Why Singapore keeps turning up in the fight over Nvidia chips and China

A 34-year-old man named Shi Bingzhe was charged with 41 offences in Singapore on November 12, including one for gaining advantage from criminal activities. Other individuals charged in connection with the Nvidia chips case include Aaron Woon Guo Jie, 41; Alan Wei Zhaolun, 49; Chinese national Li Ming, 51; and Jenny Lim, 51. Wei, Lim and Woon received charges for fraud and money laundering, while Li faced charges of fraud and fraudulent trading.

Four firms, Aperia International, A-Speed Infotech, Aperia Cloud Services (II) and Luxuriate Your Life, were accused of exporting computer servers potentially containing Nvidia chips to Malaysia in July. These companies, collectively known as the Aperia Group, and Luxuriate Your Life, were charged with false representation. The police imposed a prohibition of disposal order against a residential property valued at approximately S$55 million in relation to the case and seized around S$1 million from linked bank accounts.

The investigation began following a US probe into whether Chinese startup DeepSeek had bypassed US restrictions on Nvidia chips by purchasing them from third parties, including Singapore. This emerged after Nvidia's latest financial results revealed that 22% of its third-quarter revenue came from Singapore, making it the largest purchaser of its chips after the US.

In February 2025, Singapore's Second Minister for Trade and Industry, Tan See Leng, stated that Nvidia's revenue in Singapore represented less than 1% of the company's total earnings, with the remaining income not involving physical shipments into the country. This story is ongoing.