$42M Singapore mansion seized in Nvidia AI chip smuggling case

Singapore police have seized a S$55 million (US$42.5 million) luxury bungalow allegedly bought with the proceeds of a scheme to smuggle servers believed to contain Nvidia artificial intelligence chips that Washington bars from export to China.

The Singapore Police Force issued a prohibition of disposal order on July 1 freezing any sale or transfer of the Good Class Bungalow, the city-state's most exclusive class of home, at 12 Chee Hoon Avenue near the Singapore Botanic Gardens.

Officers also seized about S$1 million from bank accounts tied to the case, Channel News Asia reported.

Aperia Group chief executive Wei Zhaolun, 50, known as Alan Wei, pleaded not guilty on July 6 to all 11 charges against him regarding the case and had his bail raised to S$1.25 million, Bloomberg reported. His lawyer called the charges "misconceived."

Two of the money laundering charges accuse Wei of receiving about S$5.1 million and S$698,712 in his personal accounts during 2024, part of it allegedly derived from criminal conduct, Mothership reported, citing the charge sheets.

A separate charge alleges he funneled roughly S$38 million in criminal proceeds into the bungalow, which he bought that year.

Prosecutors say Wei and two other Aperia executives deceived Dell, Super Micro Computer and Asus between November 2023 and February 2025 by certifying on end-user forms that companies within the group would receive the servers.

His alleged co-conspirators are chief financial officer Jenny Lim, 51, and head of sales Aaron Woon Guo Jie, 41, both Singaporean.

A street view of the Good Class Bungalow in Singapore, dated to August 2024. Photo courtesy of Google

Wei, Woon and Chinese national Li Ming were first charged in February 2025, according to the South China Morning Post, with Lim added in April 2026, Mothership reported.

Li, who controls a separate company called Luxuriate Your Life, faces fraud charges in the same probe, the International Business Times reported, though Wei's lawyers say Li's case is unconnected to Aperia.

Four companies were also charged: Aperia International, A-Speed Infotech, Aperia Cloud Services and Luxuriate Your Life. It was the first time corporate entities have been prosecuted in the investigation, the Singapore Police Force said.

An Aperia spokesperson told CNA the companies were cooperating fully and denied any wrongdoing.

The servers were routed through Singapore and shipped on to Malaysia, Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam said when the first charges were laid in March 2025, according to Malay Mail.

Whether Malaysia was the final destination or a further transit point remains unconfirmed, and some reporting points to China.

The case grew out of U.S. investigations into whether Chinese AI firm DeepSeek obtained restricted Nvidia chips through intermediaries in Singapore and Malaysia, a Commerce Department inquiry reported by The Diplomat. Singapore police have not confirmed any link between Aperia and DeepSeek.