Singapore charges Shi Bingzhe over 917 servers in Nvidia-linked case

Selected charging milestones from Singapore Police Force statements show how the prosecution expanded. Charges remain allegations. Source: Singapore Police Force — July charges.

What suppliers were allegedly told

The underlying fraud allegations concern representations made to manufacturers when the servers were purchased. Aperia International, A-Speed Infotech and Aperia Cloud Services (II) together form Aperia Group. Its then-chief executive Alan Wei Zhaolun, chief financial officer Jenny Lim and head of sales Aaron Woon Guo Jie are among the earlier defendants.

In its July account of the charges, police alleged that the three officers conspired to falsely tell Dell, Super Micro Computer and ASUS that an Aperia Group company would be the servers’ end user. The alleged communications ran from November 2023 to February 2025.

Li Ming, controller of Luxuriate Your Life, faces a separate set of allegations. Police said he falsely represented to Super Micro in November 2023 that the company would hold servers and lease them to other companies, and that he was its employee. Li also faces fraudulent trading and other charges. Luxuriate Your Life and the three Aperia Group companies face false-representation charges.

Wei, Woon and Li were first charged on February 27, 2025; Lim was first charged on April 2, 2026. Their cases remain pending.

The earlier prosecution already included money laundering allegations against Aperia’s officers. Among them, police alleged that Wei used approximately S$38 million in criminal benefits toward a bungalow purchase involving property worth about S$55 million. Authorities prohibited disposal of the bungalow and seized approximately S$1 million in bank funds linked to the investigation. Those asset measures are separate from the value of the 917 servers in the new charges.

The Nvidia link and the limits of the evidence

The broader case attracted attention amid scrutiny of whether advanced Nvidia chips were reaching China despite US export restrictions. Singapore’s home affairs minister said the servers may have contained Nvidia AI chips, according to a report on the case.

In a March 3, 2025 briefing, K Shanmugam, then Singapore’s minister for home affairs and law, said the domestic investigation began with an anonymous tip rather than information from another government. He described it as independent of speculation about circumvention of US export controls.

Shanmugam’s preliminary account said Dell and Supermicro servers had passed through Singapore to Malaysia, while any onward destination remained uncertain. He said authorities assessed that the servers might contain items subject to US export controls but did not know for certain. That account concerned the earlier investigation; it does not establish the route or contents of every server in the new charges.

The November police statement identifies neither chip models nor ultimate recipients. The charges announced now concern money laundering under Singapore law.

The cases return to court in January

Shi and the two companies are due back in court on January 4, 2027. Their lawyers sought an adjournment to take further instructions. The judge ordered Shi to be electronically tagged at the prosecution’s request; his lawyer opposed tagging and said Shi had cooperated with investigators, according to the court report.

If convicted, Shi faces up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to S$500,000, or both, for each charge. Each company faces a fine of up to S$1 million or twice the value of the criminal benefits, whichever is higher, for each charge, police said.

The central allegations still to be tested are whether the companies had reasonable grounds to believe the servers represented criminal benefits and whether Shi consented to their acquisition. Those questions require evidence of the circumstances of the purchases and Shi’s involvement, beyond the number and value of the servers. The charges remain allegations, not findings of guilt.