Singapore judge approves extradition in global insider trading case

SINGAPORE – A Singapore judge has approved the extradition of Singaporean Ge Zhi to the United States to stand trial for his role in a global insider trading ring that used burner phones and coded language to evade detection.

Under the extradition process, the judge ordered Ge to be committed to prison to await the Law Minister’s warrant for his surrender to the US.

The decision followed a two-year legal process marked by the fugitive’s multiple bids to delay the matter.

Ge faces six charges of securities fraud and money-laundering in the US. He was arrested by Singapore police in July 2024, following an extradition request by the US.

In written grounds of decision issued on Oct 1, district judge Cheng Yuxi said all the legal requirements under the Extradition Act have been met for Ge’s committal to prison to await his surrender.

The judge said he had explained his decision to Ge on Sept 22, and informed him that he could apply to the High Court for an order of review of the detention, or waive his right to do so.

Ge asked for two days to consider, and on Sept 24, told the court he would not be waiving his right to seek a review. He remains in remand.

During a hearing in August 2026, an affidavit by a special agent from the US’ Federal Bureau of Investigation setting out the evidence obtained against Ge was presented by the Attorney-General’s Chambers.

According to the affidavit, Ge was recruited by one Eamma Safi and another co-conspirator identified as CC-1, in Paris in November 2016.

Following the meeting, they allegedly ran an insider trading scheme using material non-public information, or MNPI, which involved participants in the US and other countries.  

One of the participants recruited by Ge, identified as CW-1, admitted to participating in the scheme from around 2017 to 2020 to trade in stocks. CW-1 has pleaded guilty in the US to charges against him in December 2023.

According to the FBI agent, Ge and Safi connected with individuals to recruit investment bankers and other corporate insiders who were willing to share inside information about the financial performance and merger-and-acquisition activity of publicly traded companies.

The affidavit cited an exchange of messages between Ge and a friend, who worked as an actor in the New York area, in which Ge asked the friend to introduce him to “bankers and such”.

It contained more than a dozen examples of how Ge and his co-conspirators used such information to trade, and also provided the information for others to trade in the securities of publicly listed companies.

The companies included Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Cytokinetics, Gemalto, Ingenico Group, Kindred Healthcare, Medidata Solutions, Pinnacle Foods, Principia Biopharma, Tiffany & Co, and Walgreen Boots Alliance.

To hide the scheme from law enforcement, the network Ge was in used disposable or “burner” phones, coded language, and encrypted messaging applications like Signal with auto-deleting messages.  

The conspirators used the terms “socks” and “shoes” as code for disposable mobile phones and SIM cards, “greens” for money, and “races” for forthcoming corporate announcements that were not yet public.  

Based on the affidavit, Ge, Safi and others received kickbacks, or a percentage of the trading profits made by the individuals to whom he provided such information.

For example, after initially giving CW-1 information in relation to Pinnacle and Kindred, Ge explained that while these first samples free, “promoters take 50% profit off the door sales”.

Ge moved a share of his trading profits through an individual identified as CC-10.

In March 2019, CC-10 and Ge discussed the latter kicking back US$40,000 (S$51,200) in trading profits, coded as “40 kg of meat”.  

CW-1 also admitted to having been instructed by Safi and Ge to wire US$300,000 of his proceeds to a Hong Kong bank account held in the name of a person identified as Individual 7.

When CW-1 expressed concern that it look suspicious, Ge instructed CW-1 to tell the bank that the money was a payment to an antique watch dealer that only accepted cash.

Ge even purportedly had a box sent from Individual 7’s address in Hong Kong to CW-1. An image of the shipping label was used to support the transfer of US$300,000.

Lack of willingness to cooperate

District Judge Cheng’s written grounds also set out why the court process took more than two years to conclude.

Three sets of hearing dates, in May 2025, August 2025 and March 2026, were cancelled due to last-minute applications brought by Ge and his then lawyers for various reasons.

For example, the rescheduled dates in August 2025 were vacated after Ge was observed to be behaving erratically, and his lawyer at that time said he could be suffering a relapse of his bipolar disorder.

But in October 2025, a report from the Institute of Mental Health said there was no evidence that Ge suffered from any active mental disorder and that he was “clearly of sound mind”.

The report concluded that Ge’s “behaviour could be attributed to a lack of willingness to cooperate with court proceedings”.

The committal hearing eventually started on Aug 20, 2026, with Ge repeatedly asking for more time before he took the stand.

The judge said: “The inevitable conclusion was that the delays to the proceedings were attributable solely and directly to Mr Ge’s own applications.”