A judge in Singapore has granted bail to three individuals who are suspected of defrauding suppliers of server computers potentially containing Nvidia chips, which are subject to U.S. export regulations prohibiting their sale to certain countries, aiming to prevent sales to entities in China.
This decision follows approximately two weeks after the three individuals were charged in Singapore with smuggling Nvidia chips and committing fraud against Dell and Super Micro by misrepresenting the locations of the servers.
According to Singaporean prosecutors, the fraud case includes servers sourced from local companies and subsequently relocated to Malaysia, with transactions amounting to approximately $390 million, as reported by Reuters. The final destination of these servers remains uncertain.
Bail was set at S$800,000 ($600,000) for one Singaporean man and S$600,000 for the other, while the bail for the third individual, a Chinese national, was set at S$1 million. The next court date is scheduled for May 2.
Prosecutors have requested an eight-week extension to finalize their investigations and have proposed specific conditions, including preventing the men from accessing airports or border crossings and prohibiting discussions about the case if released on bail. Additionally, the Chinese national is required to wear an electronic monitoring device.
Nvidia’s recent annual report indicates that Singapore represented 18% of its revenue in the fiscal year ending January 28, even though shipments to the country accounted for less than 2% of total sales.
In January, China’s DeepSeek garnered significant attention in the AI sector for its cutting-edge technology and affordable solutions, raising concerns regarding its sources for chips. DeepSeek’s AI technology relies on Nvidia chips, despite efforts to impose export restrictions and limit the technology’s usage in China.
Malaysia announced last week that it would take pertinent actions against Malaysian entities involved in a fraud case concerning the alleged transfer of Nvidia chips from Singapore to China.
Compiled by Techarena.au.
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