SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Singapore authorities added further charges on Thursday against three men remanded in a case that is part of a wider police investigation into server fraud that may contain AI chips, court documents showed.
The men were charged with committing fraud against Dell and Super Micro by falsely representing where the servers they bought would end up.
They made “false representation that the items would not be transferred to a person other than the authorised ultimate consignee of end users,” police said in the charge sheets.
Officials in the city state have said the servers may contain Nvidia chips, but stopped short of saying if they are subject to U.S. export controls.
The case is part of a wider police investigation in Singapore of 22 individuals and companies suspected of false representation.
The United States is investigating if DeepSeek, the Chinese company whose AI model’s performance rocked the tech world in January, has been using U.S. chips that are not allowed to be shipped to China, Reuters reported.
Singapore has said the servers made their way to Malaysia and Malaysia is investigating if its laws were breached.
Two suspects, Aaron Woon, 41, and Alan Wei, 49, face one more charge each for conspiring to commit fraud on tech firm Super Micro in 2024 in Singapore. Authorities also amended earlier charges, dating from late in February, to include that they conspired to commit fraud against tech firm Dell in 2024.
A third suspect in the investigation, Chinese national Li Ming, 51, who was also charged in February, had his earlier charge amended to include that he defrauded Super Micro in 2023.
Wei’s lawyer Shashi Nathan from Withers KhattarWong said the matter was complex as it involves different jurisdictions and it was too early for his client to consider a plea.
Woon’s lawyer declined to comment and Li’s lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Phones, computers and laptops are among 42 devices seized by police that are being examined by forensic experts, with investigations in a preliminary stage, prosecutors said in court on Thursday.
Police, who sought bank statements to trace the movement of funds, will also seek the help of foreign law enforcement bodies, prosecutors added.
(Reporting by Bing Hong Lok; Writing by Xinghui Kok; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Barbara Lewis)
