THE MEGASPEED MYSTERY

Who's the Singaporean behind firm at centre of Nvidia chips probe?

- Cheong Poh Kwan Assistant Business Editor and Benjamin Lim Correspondent

The current whereabouts of Mr Tan Yong Pong, the Singaporean behind Megaspeed International, is unknown. The address of Monster Investment, which he owns, led to a co-working space (above) in Jurong East, where a receptionist said there was no record of the company in its membership database.

(ST PHOTO: CHEONG POH KWAN)

His corporate trail stretches across Singapore, Malaysia, China and Taiwan, but the current whereabouts of Mr Tan Yong Pong, the Singaporean behind Megaspeed International, remains unclear.

Mr Tan, 54, is listed as the sole director of the company, which is under a widening probe in Singapore and the US over possible breaches of export laws involving advanced Nvidia artificial intelligence (AI) chips.

When The Straits Times recently visited his residential address in the east of Singapore, a family member said Mr Tan, who also goes by James, does not live there and is believed to be based in China.

According to Singapore corporate records, Mr Tan started his first two businesses in 1996, followed by several others, although most of them have since been struck off, cancelled or terminated.

He is still linked to three live companies, including Megaspeed, which showed no signs of activity when ST visited its office in Collyer Quay last week.

Megaspeed was previously known as 7Road International, a Chinese gaming company with ties to state-backed investors.