Singapore seizes $42.5m luxury home in alleged Nvidia chip smuggling case
Singaporean authorities have seized a luxury property valued at 55 million Singapore dollars (about £32 million or US$42.5 million) after alleging it was purchased with proceeds from the illegal smuggling of Nvidia artificial intelligence (AI) chips.
The property, located in one of Singapore’s most exclusive neighbourhoods near the Botanic Gardens, was confiscated as part of an investigation into the suspected unlawful trade in servers equipped with advanced Nvidia chips that are subject to United States export restrictions.
Police said at least two-thirds of the property’s purchase price was allegedly financed with illicit funds and have secured a court order preventing its sale while investigations continue.
Authorities announced that Wei Zhaolun, also known as Alan Wei, will face money laundering charges for allegedly using about 38 million Singapore dollars in criminal proceeds to finance the acquisition of the property.
Wei is the chief executive officer of Aperia Group, a company that supplies servers and other technology hardware to businesses.
Investigators have also frozen approximately one million Singapore dollars held in bank accounts linked to the case.
According to police, four individuals, including Wei, have been charged since February 2025 over fraud and other alleged offences connected to the investigation.
The suspects are accused of placing orders for servers from international suppliers by falsely claiming they were purchasing the equipment for companies they represented. Authorities have not disclosed the final destination of the servers.
Police said the servers involved in the investigation were sourced from Dell, Super Micro Computer and Asus.
If found guilty of fraud, the accused could each face prison sentences of up to 20 years.
In addition to the individuals charged, Singapore-based technology company Luxuriate Your Life and three companies under the Aperia Group are also facing prosecution. Police described the case as the first in which corporate entities have been charged as part of these investigations.
Reaffirming their commitment to combating financial crime, Singapore police said they maintain a zero-tolerance approach to offences that threaten the country’s reputation as a trusted global business and financial centre.
The investigation comes amid increased efforts by both Singapore and the United States to curb the illegal movement of Nvidia chips following Washington’s 2022 export restrictions, which were introduced over concerns the technology could be used for Chinese military purposes.
Singaporean authorities said in 2025 that servers containing US export-controlled chips were believed to have been shipped through the country. Since then, the United States has eased some restrictions by permitting the sale of certain Nvidia semiconductors to China under specific conditions.
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