The US Department of Justice has arrested Greg Lui, CEO of Earthmade Computer, on charges of smuggling over $300 million in Nvidia chips to China. According to the indictment, Lui allegedly used false paperwork to mask shipments of high-end servers containing export-controlled Nvidia chips, including A100 and H100 GPUs, destined for China.
The smuggling scheme, detailed in the FBI's indictment, began in October 2023 and continued until August 2026. Emails and bank records provided evidence of the scheme, including a 2024 email discussing an order for 70 servers with export-restricted GPUs that were fraudulently claimed as destined for Malaysia.
Lui allegedly conspired with freight-forwarding firms in South Asian countries like Malaysia and Singapore to divert chip shipments into China.
One key piece of evidence is a 2024 email discussing an order for 70 servers with export-restricted GPUs that were fraudulently claimed as destined for Malaysia.
After Lui submitted a purchase order for 27 of these servers for approximately $7,614,000, a co-conspirator told a Malaysian government official that all 27 were shipped to China.
"Lui submitted a purchase order to a US manufacturer for 27 of these servers for approximately $7,614,000," the DOJ alleged. A co-conspirator told a Malaysian government official that all 27 were shipped to China. A similar shipment of 92 export-controlled servers was allegedly routed through Singapore to Malaysia, then Hong Kong, before reaching a Chinese firm based in Hangzhou.
The scheme allegedly generated over $176 million for Lui’s firm, with payment records from his accounts with Bank of America and JP Morgan providing further evidence.
The DOJ wants to seize all funds gained through the scheme, citing charges of conspiring to violate the Export Control Reform Act and the Export Administration Regulations, as well as federal smuggling and money laundering laws.
Source: arstechnica
