Three men to return to court over alleged export of Nvidia AI chip servers
Three men accused of unlawfully exporting servers potentially containing restricted Nvidia AI chips are scheduled to return to Singapore court on 17 October 2025 for a pre-trial conference. The case involves one Chinese national and two Singaporeans facing fraud and computer misuse charges, linked to shipments intended for foreign end users. Investigations relate to US export controls on high-performance AI chips.
- Li Ming, Aaron Woon, and Alan Wei are facing fraud and computer misuse charges over the unauthorised export of servers that may have contained Nvidia AI chips.
- The case is tied to US export control violations, with potential shipments reaching Malaysia and involvement in a broader probe concerning Chinese start-up DeepSeek.
SINGAPORE – Three men allegedly involved in the unauthorised export of computer servers that may have contained restricted Nvidia artificial intelligence (AI) chips are scheduled to return to court in October for a pre-trial conference. According to local media reports, the next court date has been set for 17 October 2025.
The case involving 51-year-old Chinese national Li Ming was mentioned in court on 22 August. During that hearing, Deputy Public Prosecutor Louis Ngia requested an eight-week adjournment, citing the “significant scale” of ongoing investigations. Li is represented by lawyers Wendell Wong and Andrew Chua of Drew & Napier. Wong expressed concern over the pace of the case, noting, “Justice delayed is justice denied.” DPP Ngia denied that justice was being delayed.
The other two individuals, Singaporeans Aaron Woon Guo Jie, 41, and Alan Wei Zhaolun, 49, were not mentioned in court on that day. Their cases are scheduled to proceed alongside Li’s during the same pre-trial conference.
Charges and alleged offences
Li faces two charges: one of fraud and one under the Computer Misuse Act. He is accused of falsely claiming in 2023 that a company he controlled, Luxuriate Your Life, would be the end user of certain servers supplied by Supermicro. Li is also alleged to have accessed an OCBC corporate bank account without authorisation to make financial transfers for the same company on 19 June 2024.
Woon and Wei each face two fraud charges. They are accused of conspiring to defraud Dell and Supermicro by making false representations in 2024 regarding the intended end users of server shipments. At the time of the alleged offences, both men were employed at Singapore-based Aperia Cloud Services, with Wei serving as chief executive officer and Woon as chief operating officer.
Connection to US export controls
The cases are part of a broader investigation into possible violations of United States export controls. Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam has previously stated that the servers most likely contained components subject to US export regulations.
In 2022, the US imposed restrictions on the export of high-performance AI chips, including Nvidia chips, to limit access by Chinese entities. The three men were charged in Singapore in February 2025 after the Republic was implicated in a US probe into whether Chinese start-up DeepSeek obtained restricted Nvidia chips through third-party sales in other jurisdictions, including Singapore.
Preliminary investigations indicate that servers from Dell and Supermicro were first shipped to companies in Singapore before being exported to Malaysia. These servers may have contained export-controlled Nvidia chips. The inquiry began following an anonymous tip-off.
Impact of the alleged AI chip export
The US-led probe gained attention after DeepSeek launched an AI platform in January 2025, reportedly using Nvidia chips. The product was developed at significantly lower costs compared to US competitors. The launch caused major disruptions in US markets, with tech stocks reportedly losing around US$1 trillion (S$1.29 trillion) in value.
Next steps
The pre-trial conference scheduled for 17 October 2025 will determine procedural matters ahead of the trial. Authorities continue to investigate the full scale of the alleged unauthorised exports and the potential implications for international trade compliance.
