Tech firm CEO charged with laundering S$38 million in bungalow purchase, bail raised to S$1.25m
Alan Wei Zhaolun is accused of laundering S$38 million in criminal proceeds by buying a Good Class Bungalow for S$55 million.
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SINGAPORE: The chief executive officer of tech firm Aperia Group was charged on Monday (Jul 6) with laundering S$38 million (US$29 million) in the purchase of a bungalow and acquiring S$3.2 million in criminal proceeds.
Alan Wei Zhaolun, a 50-year-old Singaporean, indicated that he was not guilty of all charges, with his lawyers saying they were "misconceived".
The new charges take the total number he is facing to 11, most of which are for conspiring to commit fraud linked to the purchase of computer servers.
These servers allegedly contained Nvidia chips that were moved in contravention of United States' export controls. The case came to court after US investigations on whether Chinese start-up DeepSeek had circumvented US restrictions on advanced Nvidia chips by buying them from third parties in other countries including Singapore.
The alleged co-conspirators of the fraud are Aperia Group's chief financial officer Jenny Lim, a 51-year-old Singaporean, and the group's head of sales Aaron Woon Guo Jie, a 41-year-old Singaporean.
The trio are accused of conspiring to commit fraud in an end-use/end-user certification form sent to representatives of tech firms, including the Singapore branch of Dell Global B V, Super Micro Computer Inc. Taiwan and Asus Global that the end-users of servers purchased from them were companies within Aperia Group.
The three companies from Aperia Group - A-Speed Infotech, Aperia International and Aperia Cloud Services (II) - have also charged with related fraud offences.
According to his new charges tendered on Monday, Wei bought a bungalow at 12 Chee Hoon Avenue between July and October 2024 for a sum of S$55 million. Of this, about S$38 million was the alleged benefits of criminal conduct.
The police said last week that they had issued a prohibition of disposal order against the Good Class Bungalow, which means it cannot be sold or transferred while the order is in force.
According to the fresh charges, Wei acquired money in his bank accounts over two periods - between Jul 25, 2024 and Aug 7, 2024, and on Oct 3, 2024 - totalling S$5.8 million.
Of this sum, about S$3.2 million allegedly came from his benefits from criminal conduct.
Wei is represented by lawyers from WongPartnership, including Ms Melanie Ho, Mr Tang Shangwei, Ms Rachel Ong and Ms Neo Yi Ling.
Ms Ho told the court on Monday that her client denies any wrongdoing and that the charges are "misconceived".
Two of the charges Wei initially faced have been amended to reflect that the alleged conspiracy involved not just Wei and Woon but also Lim.
Ms Ho said that Wei and the three Aperia companies have been cooperative, with the firms "running to the best of their ability despite these turbulent times".
The prosecution sought an increase in bail from S$800,000 to S$1.25 million, but the defence argued against this, saying the imposition of the fresh charges was no surprise, since the prosecution had earlier indicated they would be levying those charges.
The judge granted the prosecution's call for an increase in bail and fixed it at S$1.25 million.
The cases for the three Aperia Group executives and the three companies have been adjourned for pre-trial conferences.
If convicted of converting benefits from criminal conduct, an offender could be jailed for up to 10 years, fined up to S$500,000, or both.
For engaging in a conspiracy to commit fraud through false representation, a person can be jailed for up to 20 years and fined.
The companies face potential fines if convicted.
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