Four Singapore companies will be charged for fraud by false representation, believed to be linked to an ongoing probe into Nvidia chip fraud conspiracy.

These companies are Aperia International, A-Speed Infotech, and Aperia Cloud Services (II) — collectively known as the Aperia Group — and Luxuriate Your Life.

In relation to this case, the police said in a Jul. 1 news release that they have issued a prohibition of disposal order against a Good Class Bungalow (GCB) valued at about S$55 million.

CNA reported that the GCB is located at 12 Chee Hoon Avenue.

They also seized funds in bank accounts under investigation valued at roughly S$1 million.

Individual charges

Four individuals from the companies' leadership have previously been handed charges, and will face additional ones.

In February 2025, Alan Wei Zhaolun (CEO of Aperia Group), Aaron Woon Guo Jie (Head of Sales of Aperia Group), and Li Ming (the alleged controller of Luxuriate Your Life) were charged with fraud by false representation in relation to purchases of servers.

In April 2026, Jenny Lim, the CFO of Aperia Group, was also charged with conspiring with Wei and Woon to commit fraud.

Between November 2023 and February 2025, they allegedly misled suppliers Dell, Super Micro Computer, and Asus that one of the Aperia Group companies would be the end-user of the servers.

As for Li, investigations revealed that he falsely represented to Super Micro that his company Luxuriate Your Life would hold and lease to other companies the servers purchased from them.

AI chips fraud probe

In January 2025, Bloomberg reported that United States government officials were trying to find out if DeepSeek, the Chinese AI company, used intermediaries in Singapore to purchase Nvidia chips.

The U.S. has banned the export of high-end chips Nvidia chips to China due to concerns that they could be used for military purposes.

According to the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) in February 2025, Nvidia stated "there is no reason to believe that DeepSeek obtained any export-controlled products from Singapore".

When Wei, Woon, and Li were first charged for fraud, Minister for Home Affairs K Shanmugam said investigations revealed that the servers involved in the case may contain Nvidia chips.

The chips were embedded in servers supplied by Dell and Supermicro to the individual's Singapore-based companies, then sent to Malaysia, CNA reported.

Money laundering

Lim, Woon, and Wei will also face charges for money laundering.

Lim and Woon each face one charge for each acquiring about S$1.2 million in their personal bank accounts.

This sum partly represents benefits from criminal conduct amounting to about S$1 million, the police said.

On Jul. 6, Wei will also be charged for acquiring about S$5.8 million in his personal bank accounts, in part representing criminal benefits of about S$3.2 million.

He also allegedly converted property worth about S$55 million, in part representing criminal benefits of about S$38 million, for the purchase of a GCB.

The parent company of a firm that owns several Singapore outlets of Anytime Fitness and Body Fit Training (BFT) will be charged with failing to pay the Central Provident Fund (CPF) contributions of its employees on time.

According to CNA, the parent company of gym operator ReFormd, Watchtower Holdings, will be facing 14 charges for allegedly failing to pay 13 employees their CPF contributions on time between July 2025 and January 2026.

ReFormd owns 16 BFT outlets, 14 Anytime Fitness outlets and five personal training gyms in Singapore.

There are 55 BFT franchise outlets in Singapore, including those that are set to open, reported CNA.

Watchtower Holdings previously convicted

According to CPF Board documents, Watchtower Holdings was previously sentenced on Dec. 18, 2025, on two charges of late payment of CPF contributions for employees.

The company was fined S$2,400.

The CPF Board told CNA that investigations and the recovery of outstanding payments started in August 2025.

It received four reports related to the company from April 2026 to June 2026, three of which have been resolved, reported CNA.

A portion of the outstanding CPF payments have since been recovered.

In a statement to CNA, the CPF Board said: "We will continue to follow up with the company and its director to recover any remaining arrears."

Company in process of settling remaining outstanding payments

The director of Watchtower Holdings, Monica Angkodjojo, told CNA that the company is in the process of settling the remaining outstanding amounts payable to the CPF Board.

"We acknowledge the seriousness of the matter and take our obligations to our employees very seriously."

Angkodjojo declined to comment on case details and said the company expects to settle all outstanding amounts by Jul. 7, ahead of the agreed Jul. 10 deadline.

She said: "Since identifying the issue, we have strengthened our internal compliance processes and implemented additional safeguards to ensure this does not happen again."

Penalties

According to CPF, enforcement action will be taken against employers who fail to make CPF contributions by the 14th of the following month (or the next working day if the 14th falls on a weekend or public holiday).

Employers may be fined between S$1,000 and S$5,000, jailed for up to six months, or both, for failing to make CPF contributions on time.

Repeat offenders can be fined between S$2,000 and S$10,000, jailed up to 12 months, or both.

Directors of the company can also be charged, and face the same court fines and/or imprisonment.

The next court hearing has been scheduled for Jul. 30, according to CNA.

A man from Taiwan's New Taipei City was sentenced by the High Court to nine years and eight months' jail on Jun. 30, 2026, after he asked his girlfriend to commit incest with her three sons.

This took place over three years from 2020 to 2023, which saw both lovers initially sentenced to 10 years and 6 months' jail, ETtoday reported.

The man, who reached a partial settlement with the victims, later had his sentence reduced after an appeal, while the woman's sentence remained unchanged.

Instigated lover to commit acts

In 2020, the man who was dating his lover learned that she had three sons who were in high school or junior high school.

According to ETtoday, the woman and her three sons slept in two bunk beds in the same room.

Wanting to satisfy his desires, the man asked her to commit incest with her sons and film videos of the acts before sending him the videos for his viewing pleasure, setn.com reported.

The woman agreed, and in January 2020, she sexually assaulted her eldest son, who was a high school sophomore at the time.

Learning disability

She filmed the act and sent the video to the man, who asked her to do the same to her second son.

The woman did so and also sexually assaulted her youngest son, who woke up during her act but pretended to sleep upon realising it was her.

In addition, the woman's second son was subject to her acts more than 10 times over three years.

However, due to his learning disability, he did not know how to respond despite knowing his mother's acts were wrong, according to ETtoday.

Father made police report

After three years of committing the acts, the sons' father discovered his wife's affair, ETtoday reported.

Outraged, he made a police report.

Both lovers were then indicted on charges of domestic violence and sexual assault.

The collection of this year's National Day parade (NDP) tickets started on Jun. 26, 2026.

Several people have since highlighted the long queues and waiting times at the collection centre located in Marina Square, with some questioning the need for physical tickets in the age of digitalisation.

Along with the complaints were also those who said the queues moved quickly and the crowd was orderly.

Waiting times from 20 minutes to 2 hours

According to the NDP website, estimated wait times get increasingly longer as the day progress:

• 10:30am - 11:00am: ~20 minutes
• 11:00am - 12:00pm: ~30-45minutes
• 12:00pm - 4:00pm: ~1 hour
• 4:00pm - 6:00pm: ~1.5 hours
• 6:00pm - 8:30pm: ~2 hours

A Mothership reader said that they waited about 30 minutes after queuing at 10:30 am on Jun. 27 to collect her tickets.

According to her, the situation there was orderly.

"There are more than 50 staff there to assist you. People were all standing and queuing in orderly position. There were 10 counters there for collection," she said.

"I purposely went early because I saw them showing the estimated time for morning queue to be 20 min, and evening queue to be as long as two hours," she added.

She also shared that this was her first time getting tickets for the parade in eight years after balloting every year.

Gave up queuing

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One Instagram user Donovan also posted the queue situation when he went down on Sat. 28 at around 3:30pm.

A staff member was holding a sign indicating that the queue could be two to three hours long.

He told Mothership that he ended up not queuing as he didn't want to wait and will head down again for the next round of collection from Jul. 3 to 5.

Nonetheless, he is still looking forward to attending the parade to "experience the Singapore spirit and see our performers in action".

He plans to attend with his niece and nephews, after balloting and finally getting a ticket for the first time in 10 years.

The NDP will return to the National Stadium this year, for the first time since 2016.

"You should come for the Portugal match, we love Cristiano."

That very ominous foreshadowing was delivered by one Dilnoza Goibova before the World Cup even began.

Dilnoza is the founder of the Uzbek community group in Singapore, an over 200-strong member group that was started in March 2025.

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We were discussing which match would be best for me to witness the Uzbek community cheer on their team at their first World Cup.

While they obviously watched the first match against Colombia, a 3-1 loss, the cheers and groans were in relative silos, with the awkward timing (10am, during school and work hours) making it tough to have a nice little gathering.

So it was on the second game day that they gathered.

The timing was both much earlier and much more accessible.

Students who had little chance of making early lectures, and adults with every intention in the world to develop a sudden fever by game-end.

When I arrived about 30 minutes before kickoff, a beaming lady came out to greet me.

Dilnoza, the youthful-looking 35-year-old, cheerfully introduced me to some of the founding members of the Uzbek community group in Singapore. The "seniors", as she calls them.

Lutfillo Yuldoshev, 44, Dilshod Jurabaev, 39, and Dilafruz Khusanova, 44. There were a few other "seniors" who weren't there, but were basically around the same age range.

They were all unfailingly nice, had been in Singapore for many years, spoke animatedly about their jobs in Singapore, their love for their home country, Uzbekistan, and their adopted slightly warmer country.

Most of them hoped for a good result, with Uzbekistan scoring a goal.

Jurabaev straight up predicted a 4-0 victory for Uzbekistan.

Apart from that, the four of them were incredibly well-spoken and intelligent. But still surely a bit too young to be considered "seniors"?

However, as the room started to fill up, it became clear why the four youthful-looking folks in their 30s and early-40s were considered as such. The area was packed to the brim with people in their late teens and early 20s.

A young country

Uzbekistan gained independence relatively recently.

The country turns 35 this year, approximately one Dilnoza in age.

But they've been through quite a bit — a change in leadership in the mid 2010s signalled a modernisation drive.

An NPR piece characterised the change as an opening up of "travel and investment" which served as the backdrop for a wider geopolitical repositioning, for a "new Uzbekistan".

And while a lawyer quoted by NPR emphasises that not all in the country have access to this "new Uzbekistan", the country is moving in the right direction.

According to the article, younger Uzbeks, in particular, are more positive about the future of the country.

That optimism would be tested early on, as Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring for Portugal and Siu-ed in the sixth minute.

Before the match, Dilnoza and a few other folks had talked to me about how loved Cristiano was in Uzbekistan.

They gave a myriad of reasons for the love (did you know Cristiano visited back in his first stint at Manchester?), with Dilnoza saying Uzbekistan was a Cristiano country.

Others would later characterise the situation as more of a Real Madrid (Cristiano) and Barcelona (Messi) divide.

Whatever it was, I wondered if that would evoke some mixed feelings for Dilnoza? Her love for Cristiano might alleviate the disappointment of a goal against, perhaps?

Here's Dilnoza after the first goal.

A new migrant for the Messi side.

Singapore connection

Even with the less-than-ideal score, it was lucky that the screening was held at an industrial building instead of a residential one, so as not to wake up any non-Uzbek fans.

But why were they here in the first place?

Jurabaev (Mr "4-0") actually works at the interior design office they were watching at, Luxior Concepts.

The boss of the place, Chia, a 30-year-old Singaporean, used to play basketball with Jurabaev back when he was growing up. The friends ultimately reconnected when he set up an interior design place, and Jurabaev was hired as the principal designer.

Chia's an optimistic guy, which I guess you have to be to have weathered the Covid days after just starting a business.

When he was approached by Jurabaev to see if they could use the space for the match, Chia was more than happy to oblige.

In fact, he even sponsored their jerseys (made in and shipped from Uzbekistan), because they couldn't find Uzbekistan jerseys in Singapore.

He explained why he was so accommodating.

"[I told Jurabaev] it's going to feel very different if your friends and countrymen come over to watch the match together."

Together

By now, Cristiano's brace was a distant memory, and Uzbekistan had conceded an own goal by Nematov, pushing the deficit to 4-0.

Still, the spirits at MacPherson remained high (although understandably slightly more subdued). Jurabaev walked by and cheekily said his prediction had been right after all.

It wasn't the spirit of the defeated. In fact, they cheered on every run up the field, cursed the referee for the ruled out goal (as they should), and erupted at every camera pan to an Uzbek supporter.

Acts of varying magnitudes have made this day possible — an improvement of coaching programmes after the 2000 AFC Cup debacle, a separate national youth development sector being formed in 2004, a woman currently cursing Cristiano Ronaldo at a MacPherson office setting up an Uzbek community group in 2025.

All these and much, much more have led to the scenes that were unfolding before me.

For a split second, I let myself meander in wishful thinking.

Wouldn't it be nice to have offices around Singapore cheering for a counterattack, clearance, completed pass, incomplete pass, or a shot of the Singapore flag at whichever far-flung country the World Cup will be held?

I had broached this possibility with Chia. It was the most pessimistic I've seen him.

Next time

But regardless of the scoreline, the night was a resounding success as far as I was concerned.

The nice thing about the World Cup is that it allows the non-football watchers to partake in the absurdity of this 22-man, one-ball soiree.

Many of the folks I talked to that night were not avid football watchers at all. But somehow, the magic of the World Cup led to two university students in their 20s who had not watched much football at all, eloquently telling me how terrible Cristiano was, and why the referee was dead wrong in all his pro-Portugal decisions.

I was unfortunately unable to see the night through with them, having to rush off to catch the England match (bad decision, boring), which meant I missed the 5th goal, when Rafael Leão put a dagger in a dagger-encrusted heart.

Still, I was pretty sure what the reaction would be. A moment to register their groans, before wildly cheering another Uzbekistan flag.

By the time this article is published, Uzbekistan's inaugural World Cup would have ended. Numbers-wise, it's nothing to shout about, zero points and quite an unflattering goal differential.

I asked Dilnoza what she felt about Uzbekistan's final match against Congo.

The frustration was apparent, but so was the unbridled joy for achieving something so monumental, especially for such a young country. She said they were "proud in a way they haven't been before".

"We were so excited — immediate cheering, phone calls, and messages, and some tears. It felt like a dream come true for everyone here."

OCBC has unveiled what it says is the first AI-native bank mobile app in Southeast Asia, featuring two AI avatars that offer customers hyper-personalised wealth management advice in real time, 24/7.

The app, called OCBC WoW — short for "Whole-of-Wealth" — was launched on Jul. 1, and marks a new customer engagement channel for the bank.

The app will, over time, expand its range of products and services beyond wealth management, aiming to become customers' "digital financial companion" integrated into their everyday lives.

Round-the-clock portfolio advice

The two avatars, Wendy and Wayne, interact with customers through voice or text.

They show customers their investment portfolios, and deliver personalised market news and data combined with OCBC Group insights and investment ideas across markets, geographies, currencies, and themes.

The avatars are also designed to anticipate customer needs using what OCBC calls "advanced portfolio intelligence".

This will provide sophisticated portfolio analysis so that customers can better understand their underlying exposures and sources of risk, enabling more informed investment decisions.

OCBC WoW's core draw is five features designed to keep customers returning to the app regularly.

These include real-time curated news and market developments relevant to the customer's portfolio, as well as market price data from seven indices and commodities, with plans to expand this to 12 over time.

The avatars will also offer personalised OCBC Group insights and house views along with their implications for the customer's portfolio, track how the portfolio is impacted by market developments, and surface actionable investment ideas based on the customer's profile and risk appetite.

Beta version

OCBC WoW is currently in its beta phase, and is being rolled out on an invitation-only basis to a group of employees and customers.

For now, the beta is limited to Singapore, though a spokesperson said the plan is to progressively expand regionally as language capabilities are developed.

The avatars are also unable to independently execute complex transactions or provide financial advice for now.

A spokesperson explained that the avatars' investment recommendations are drawn exclusively from OCBC's in-house research, which they described as "a restricted database".

For more complex products or transactions, customers are still directed to their human Relationship Manager (RM), subject to existing regulatory and suitability checks.

This division of labour is also behind OCBC's plans to hire 600 more RMs over the next three years, even as it leans further into AI.

With the avatars fielding simpler queries and surfacing customer needs upfront, RMs are expected to engage their full customer base more meaningfully, focusing their time on the more complex conversations customers still prefer to have with a human.

A 29-year-old man in Singapore was charged with allegedly shaking his five-month-old son repeatedly.

He was charged on Jun. 30, The Straits Times reported.

The man’s identity was not disclosed as a gag order was imposed to protect the boy’s identity.

The incident reportedly occurred in a Hougang flat at about 12:30pm on May 14, 2024.

The reasons for his alleged actions were undisclosed.

The boy’s current condition was also not revealed.

The case was adjourned to Jul. 27.

For ill-treating a child, an offender can be liable to a jail term of up to eight years, a fine of up to S$8,000, or both.

A 42-year-old man fell through the roof of a walkway shelter on Jun. 29 at Block 107 Yishun Ring Road.

He was conveyed unconscious to the hospital, where he subsequently died.

Responding to media queries, the Singapore Police Force said that it was alerted to a case of fall from height at about 5:30am.

Based on preliminary investigations, no foul play is suspected.

Police investigations are ongoing.

One eyewitness told Shin Min Daily News that she heard a loud crash at about 5am that morning.

She had thought that the sound came from the nearby construction site.

Her friend later passed by the incident scene and observed police presence. The friend was also informed that the lift was temporarily unavailable for use.

Helplines

If you or someone you know are in mental distress, here are some hotlines you can call to seek help, advice, or just a listening ear:

National mindline.sg Hotline: 1771 (24 hours)

National mindline.sg WhatsApp: 66691771 (24 hours)

SOS 24-hour Hotline: 1-767

Singapore Association for Mental Health: 1800-283-7019

Centre for Domestic Employees: 1800 225 5233 (24 hours)

Foreign Domestic Worker Association for Social Support and Training: 1800 339 4357 (24 hours)

HOME: 1800 797 7977 or +65 9787 3122 (WhatsApp / Viber / SMS)

A Mothership reader was halfway through her meal when she found an unexpected ingredient in her fried rice: a dead lizard.

The reader, who wished to remain anonymous, said she had ordered the fried rice from a Wok Hey outlet at Tampines One on Jun. 28.

She had already eaten three mouthfuls of the fried rice before she allegedly found the lizard.

In response to Mothership's queries, Wok Hey said it has conducted a review of its outlet, but that its pest control vendor found "no sign of lizard activity at the outlet".

The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) said separately that it is aware of the matter and is looking into it.

Staff offered 2 complimentary meals in return

According to the reader, she ordered the S$7.30 egg fried rice with chicken on Jun. 28 at 4:51pm through the Wok Hey platform.

The reader said she threw away the meal after the alleged discovery and informed Wok Hey's customer service staff.

She was offered two complimentary meals but declined.

"I didn’t accept the complimentary meal; I asked for the refund of my S$7.30 instead because I will not want to eat there again."

She also filed a report with the SFA.

The reader added: "Retail line is not easy. The staff might be working for over 10 hours."

"The management or manager should do spot check at the premises."

Wok Hey says 'no sign of lizard activity' at outlet

A spokesperson from Wok Hey said after receiving the customer's feedback, it conducted a review of the premises, including a check of its CCTV footage.

"Based on our findings to date, the meal was freshly prepared and left our outlet in line with our food safety and operational standards," the company said.

"Our pest control vendor identified the lizard as a common house lizard, and their report found no sign of lizard activity at the outlet."

The spokesperson said it had issued the customer a full refund "as a gesture of goodwill".

"While our findings to date do not support the claim that the house lizard originated from our outlet, we would appreciate the time to complete our review before conclusions are drawn," it said.

It has also reached out to the customer for more information on how the food was stored and consumed.

The review is still ongoing.

SFA's response

In response to Mothership's queries, SFA said it takes a serious view of food safety.

It is looking into the matter and may engage the feedback provider for more information as part of the enquiry, said the spokesperson.

If sufficient evidence is obtained, it "will not hesitate to take enforcement action".

SFA added that food safety is a joint responsibility, and while SFA puts in place and enforces the regulatory measures, food operators must play their part by adhering to good food hygiene and preparation practices.

Members of the public who have concerns about food safety practices by food operators should report them to SFA via the online feedback form.

A 36-year-old doctor who was among 49 men arrested during a police raid at a Sentosa hotel in August 2023 was found guilty of consuming MDMA or ecstasy.

Earlier reports stated that Rayson Lee Rui Sheng had been caught at a villa at the Sofitel Singapore Sentosa hotel, where a party was held.

The Straits Times (ST) reported that on Jun. 30, 2026, Lee and his 29-year-old acquaintance, Tan Li Ming, had each been convicted of one count of drug consumption.

Accounts during trial not credible: Judge

Charge sheets and court documents seen by Mothership stated that their urine and hair samples showed traces of MDMA and ketamine.

Though they contested the charges and claimed their drinks at the party had been spiked, the district judge noted that they continued to take more drinks.

Their accounts during the trial were not credible, ST reported that the judge found, adding that there was prior drug use based on their hair samples.

"Neither man was a stranger to drug use," said the judge.

Consumed drugs at villa

Court documents stated that sometime between 8pm on Aug. 8, 2023 and the early hours of Aug. 9, 2023, Lee and Tan attended the party where they each consumed various drinks.

The party saw a total of 49 men aged between 21 and 46 in attendance.

At about 5:39am on Aug. 9, 2023, police raided the location after receiving information of drug-related activity taking place there.

Lee and Tan were then arrested on the same day, along with others who attended the party.

Police also found substances believed to be controlled drugs including Ecstasy and ketamine, as well as drug paraphernalia, after which the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) was called to the scene.

Trial strategy

After Lee and Tan provided their hair and urine samples to the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) for analysis, HSA found traces of MDMA in their urine samples.

They were also found to have consumed both Ecstasy and ketamine based on their hair samples.

ST reported that while Lee and Tan did not dispute HSA's findings, they claimed their drinks were spiked.

Noting that the pair did not have credible evidence to back up their claims, the deputy public prosecutors (DPPs) said their trial strategy involved introducing various hypothetical scenarios and unexplored possibilities.

This included claims about unidentified foreign nationals who allegedly mixed drinks but were never arrested, and assertions that police failed to seize "plastic silver cups" that might have contained drug residue.

"These contentions amount to bare allegations that serve more as distractions than substantive evidence," said the DPPs.

"Critically, they have produced no credible evidence identifying any specific individual who allegedly spiked their drinks," the DPPs added.

"Even accepting their case at its highest – that cups, if seized, might have tested positive for drugs – this would merely confirm that they consumed drug-laced beverages, not that such consumption was unknowing."

Lee's claims

Court documents stated that during the trial, Lee claimed he was at the villa attending his acquaintance's birthday party.

After arriving on the night of Aug. 8, 2023, and mingling with friends, he left to visit a club in Clarke Quay and was introduced to Tan there.

Both men then returned to the villa separately in the wee hours of Aug. 9, where Lee "found the villa markedly different from how he had left it — it was darker, substantially more crowded, and filled with a lot of people he did not recognise".

In addition to claiming he consumed three drinks from strangers at the villa, Lee claimed that while at the party, he did not see pills or drug paraphernalia, or anyone consuming drugs.

Tan's claims

Court documents stated that Tan claimed to have seen a group of four to five unknown men in the pantry area.

They were supposedly drawing liquid from a bottle with a syringe and injecting the mixture into some plastic cups.

Tan claimed that he saw white residue at the bottom after drinking from a cup.

The DPPs said: "He then approached an unidentified person and asked what was being syringed into the drinks.

"That person told him it was 'G-water' that would give him a 'drunk feeling'. Tan claimed that he did not know what 'G-water' was."

Most generic, unhelpful descriptions: DPPs

Lee also said at trial that while he was in Thailand in June 2023, he had "popped a pill", given to him by a stranger, on two occasions.

According to the DPPs, if Lee and Tan had truly been victims of spiked drinks, they should have been able to provide at least some concrete details about their alleged perpetrators.

The pair, however, had provided "only the most generic and unhelpful descriptions", the DPPs said, adding that this included vague physical characteristics that could apply to numerous individuals.

In arguing that they had shown a lack of remorse, one DPP urged the court to sentence each of them to up to a year and three months' jail.

They are set to be sentenced on Aug. 12, 2026, ST reported, adding that Tan's application to travel to Spain and France for work from Jul. 5 to Jul. 26 has been approved by the court.