Nvidia chips fraud case: S'porean tech CEO, 50, charged with laundering S$38 million via S$55 million GCB purchase

A Singaporean chief executive officer (CEO) was charged with laundering S$38 million by purchasing a S$55 million Good Class Bungalow (GCB) on Jul. 6, 2026.

Aperia Group CEO Alan Wei Zhaolun, 50, pleaded not guilty to all 11 charges, the majority of which relate to an alleged conspiracy to commit fraud involving computer server purchases.

Wei's bail, set at S$1.25 million, was also revoked.

The charges are linked to an ongoing probe into the Aperia Group's alleged Nvidia chip fraud, in which U.S. officials are investigating whether Chinese AI company DeepSeek used intermediaries in Singapore to purchase Nvidia chips.

Bought GCB for S$55 million

According to charge sheets, Wei bought a bungalow at 12 Chee Hoon Avenue between Jul. 16 and Oct. 3, 2024, for S$55 million, of which around S$38 million was from alleged criminal conduct proceeds.

A prohibition of disposal order against the GCB was issued by the police on Jul. 1, 2026.

This means the GCB cannot be sold or transferred while the order is in force.

Allegedly acquired S$5.8 million in personal bank account

Wei also faces two new charges relating to money allegedly received in his bank account.

The first charge relates to approximately S$5.1 million allegedly credited to his bank account between Jul. 25 and Aug. 7, 2024, of which around S$2.6 million allegedly represented benefits from criminal conduct.

The second charge relates to S$698,712 allegedly credited to his bank account on Oct. 3, 2024, of which S$584,192 allegedly represented benefits from criminal conduct.

Accused of conspiring to commit fraud

It was previously reported that three companies under the Aperia Group — A-Speed Infotech, Aperia International and Aperia Cloud Services (II) — have also been charged with related fraud offences.

Wei's alleged co-conspirators are Aperia Group chief financial officer Jenny Lim, 51, and head of sales Aaron Woon Guo Jie, 41, both Singaporeans, reported CNA.

When the trio was first charged with fraud, Minister for Home Affairs K Shanmugam said investigations revealed that the servers involved may contain Nvidia chips.

Alleged Nvidia chip fraud

The U.S. banned the export of high-end Nvidia chips to China due to concerns that they could be used for military purposes, according to a Bloomberg report on Jan. 31, 2025.

According to a Mar. 3 CNA report, the chips were embedded in servers supplied by Dell and Supermicro to the Singapore-based companies before it was sent to Malaysia.

At the time, Shanmugam said: "The question is whether Malaysia was a final destination or from Malaysia, it went to somewhere else, which we do not know for certain at this point."

“But we assessed that there may have been false representation on the final destination of the servers.”

In January 2025, DeepSeek launched a free AI chatbot that wiped out US$1 trillion (S$1.35 trillion at the time) from tech stocks in a single day.

The company purportedly spent less than US$6 million on the chatbot and supposedly did not use Nvidia's most advanced chips.

Lawyer says charges 'misconceived'

Wei is represented by lawyers from WongPartnership including Melanie Ho, Tang Shangwei, Rachel Ong and Neo Yi Ling.

CNA reported that Ho told the court that Wei denies any wrongdoing and the charges are "misconceived".

Ho said that Wei and the three Aperia group companies have been cooperative and "running to the best of their ability despite these turbulent times".

A spokesperson for the Aperia Group told CNA: "It is unfortunate that despite their best efforts, the companies face these allegations of wrongdoing, which they deny."

Penalties

Those convicted of converting benefits from criminal conduct face up to 10 years' jail, a fine of up to S$500,000, or both.

An individual can face up to 20 years' jail and a fine for engaging in a conspiracy to commit fraud through false representation.

If convicted, the companies could be fined.