- A California man, Greg Lui, was arrested for allegedly orchestrating a scheme to route over $300 million in export-controlled Nvidia-powered servers to China through Malaysia and Singapore – violating U.S. export-control laws.
- Lui, CEO of Earthmade Computer Inc., is charged with conspiracy to violate export controls, outbound smuggling and money laundering, following a federal grand jury indictment on Oct. 1, 2025.
- The scheme involved funneling funds from Malaysian companies – one a lumber firm and another described as a front – and using false documentation to ship servers, including 27 H100-equipped units later transshipped to a Chinese buyer.
- Prosecutors allege Lui used shell companies, purchased another person's identifying documents and routed shipments through Malaysia and Hong Kong to conceal the final destination in China.
- If convicted, Lui faces up to 20 years for export-control conspiracy and money laundering and 10 years for smuggling – highlighting ongoing U.S. efforts to enforce technology restrictions amid heightened U.S.-China competition.
A California man has been arrested on federal charges accusing him of orchestrating a scheme to route more than $300 million in export-controlled computer servers to China through Malaysia and Singapore, in what prosecutors describe as a sophisticated evasion of U.S. restrictions designed to protect advanced technology from reaching rival nations.
Greg Lui, 38, also known as Yiu Kong Lui, of San Gabriel, was taken into custody Oct. 1 after a federal grand jury returned a three-count indictment two days earlier. He is charged with conspiracy to violate U.S. export-control laws, outbound smuggling and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
The case underscores the ongoing struggle by U.S. authorities to enforce export controls aimed at denying China access to cutting-edge microchips and server technology that could be used to advance its military and artificial intelligence capabilities.
The alleged scheme
According to the indictment, Lui served as chief executive officer and owner of Earthmade Computer Inc., a company based in City of Industry, California, established in November 2023. He was also the registered agent of Coindigger, a company that did business as Earthmade. Prosecutors allege the conspiracy began no later than October 2023 and continued through at least Aug. 12, 2026.
Between January and October 2024, Earthmade received more than $80 million from one Malaysian company and $96 million from another, according to the indictment. Prosecutors say Earthmade brokered nearly $300 million in sales of export-controlled Nvidia-powered servers from three U.S. manufacturers.
One of the Malaysian companies had been established in 1999 and primarily dealt in lumber, plywood, millwork and wood panels. Prosecutors describe the second Malaysian entity as a front company.
In January 2024, Lui allegedly told a co-conspirator that the lumber company wanted 70 servers containing Nvidia H100 GPUs. Later that month, he placed an order for 27 H100-equipped servers worth about $7.6 million.
Those servers were shipped from Los Angeles County to Kuala Lumpur. Less than two months later, prosecutors say a co-conspirator emailed a Malaysian government official stating that the 27 servers had been transshipped to a Chinese purchaser.
Larger orders and false documentation
Another order was far larger. A U.S. manufacturer quoted Earthmade for 512 export-controlled servers in April 2024, and Lui placed the order the following day. The indictment traces 92 of those servers.
Although a manufacturer said they were ready to ship to Earthmade in Los Angeles County, prosecutors allege Lui and a co-conspirator instead had them flown from San Francisco to Kuala Lumpur and then onward to Hong Kong. The Chinese purchaser, also listed as the consignee, was identified as an unnamed industrial company based in Hangzhou, China.
Prosecutors also describe a separate transaction involving 100 servers equipped with Nvidia H100 GPUs worth more than $22 million. Lui allegedly used an unnamed U.S. front company to place the order and submitted false documents identifying "Jackie Lui" as the chief executive of Topmost, another City of Industry company, according to the indictment.
Topmost was not charged in the case. The company did not respond to a request for comment.
Prosecutors allege Lui had purchased another person's identifying documents in 2021 and later used that identity in business transactions connected to the export-evasion scheme. The indictment also alleges that a person presented as chief technology officer of the Malaysian lumber company was actually an international broker of export-controlled servers who incorporated Topmost in California.
Broader enforcement and industry response
This case is part of a larger pattern. In August 2025, two other Chinese nationals were charged in California for allegedly smuggling AI chips from the U.S. to China through Singapore and Malaysia from October 2022 to July 2025, according to federal prosecutors. That scheme allegedly used a company called ALX Solutions Inc. to funnel high-performance GPU chips through Southeast Asian intermediaries.
Roman Rozhavsky, assistant director of the FBI's Counterintelligence and Espionage Division, said the bureau's investigation found that Lui allegedly sold hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of technology to the Chinese government.
An Nvidia spokesperson told the Epoch Times on Oct. 2, "This case shows yet again that smuggling is a losing proposition – legally, economically and technically. Our work with law enforcement has led to prosecutions, and we will continue to engage with law enforcement."
Earthmade Computer Inc. has not been charged in the case. The company did not respond by publication time to a request for comment.
If convicted of all charges, Lui faces statutory maximum sentences of 20 years on the export-control conspiracy count, 20 years on the money-laundering conspiracy count and 10 years on the smuggling count.
Conclusion
The charges against Lui highlight the persistent efforts to circumvent U.S. export controls aimed at preventing China from acquiring advanced semiconductor and server technology. Prosecutors allege a complex web of shell companies, false documentation and routing through Southeast Asian nations to conceal the final destination of restricted goods.
BrightU.AI's Enoch states that the outcome of a trial like Lui's could have broader implications for enforcement of export controls in an era of heightened U.S.-China technological competition. As U.S. authorities continue to crack down on such schemes, the case serves as a warning to those attempting to evade technology restrictions designed to protect national security interests.
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