Singaporean police charged three men for allegedly scamming an unidentified computer server supplier, bringing attention to the role that local middlemen play in distributing Nvidia Corp. chips globally.
The main question in the case is whether the three of them contributed to deceiving the server supplier by, among other things, falsifying the hardware's real end-user on their charge sheets.
A 51-year-old Chinese national was charged with fraud, and two males from Singapore, ages 41 and 49, were charged with criminal conspiracy to conduct fraud.
The case follows weeks after Bloomberg News revealed that the US was looking into whether DeepSeek, a Chinese artificial intelligence phenomenon, had gotten around US chip sanctions with the assistance of Singaporean third parties.
The arrests were connected to the transfer of Nvidia chips to China, according to local media, notably the broadcaster CNA.
The authorities did not identify the server computer provider or disclose information about the products that might have been involved. According to his charge sheet, the Chinese man was accused of falsely representing that Luxuriate Your Life Pte "would be the end-user of the items."
In a different statement, the police stated that such actions are punishable by up to 20 years in prison. In connection with its investigation, the police have also made six further arrests. 22 people and businesses are being looked into by the police for possible involvement in fraud by false representation.
With strong trading ties to both China and the United States, Singapore has found itself embroiled in a digital battle between the two heavyweights. By enacting US export limits on sales of AI training chips to China, the Trump administration is investigating whether Hangzhou-based DeepSeek purchased cutting-edge Nvidia chips through intermediaries in Singapore.
Even though the Santa Clara, California-based company billed more than a quarter of its sales to customers in the city state, a top Singaporean official stated last week that Nvidia chips sent to the nation only made up less than 1% of the US behemoth's revenue.
