A California technology company owner has been arrested on federal charges accusing him of being involved in smuggling more than $300 million worth of servers containing NVIDIA GPUs to China, which is a violation of the strict US export rules around powerful AI-capable GPUs.
Greg Lui, 38, also known as Yiu Kong Lui, owns Earthmade Computer Inc., based in City of Industry, California. The US Department of Justice announced his arrest on October 1 following a three-count indictment, and provided details via an official press release by the Office of Public Affairs.
Prosecutors allege Lui and his co-conspirators purchased restricted servers from American manufacturers using paperwork that falsely identified permissible overseas customers as the final recipients. The equipment was allegedly shipped through Malaysia and Singapore before being redirected to China without the required US export licenses.
The indictment names NVIDIA A100 and H100 GPUs, alongside GeForce RTX 4090 and RTX 5090 hardware, among the products ordered under the alleged scheme. It describes a conspiracy beginning around October 2023 and continuing until at least August 12, 2026.
One transaction cited by prosecutors involved 27 servers purchased for approximately US$7.6 million in January 2024. The equipment was shipped to Kuala Lumpur, with a co-conspirator allegedly later confirming it had been forwarded to a Chinese buyer. Earthmade also allegedly received more than US$176 million from two Malaysian shipping companies during 2024.
Lui faces charges of conspiracy to violate export controls, outbound smuggling, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The DOJ lists respective maximum prison terms of 20, 10, and 20 years if convicted, rather than a single 20-year maximum.
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"Preventing the illegal export of controlled technology is critical to protecting our national security. These technologies provide core advantages to U.S. forces, and ensuring they remain safeguarded prevents adversaries from exploiting them. Today's action underscores our commitment to protecting advanced defense capabilities and enforcing the laws that keep them out of the hands of those who may threaten the United States," said Special Agent in Charge John E. Helsing of the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) Western Field Office
