From Startup Fortune · · 1m 30s
DOJ charges California man with smuggling $300 million in Nvidia chips to China
California reseller Greg Lui faces federal charges for allegedly smuggling $300 million in Nvidia chips through Malaysia and Singapore to China.
In brief
California reseller Greg Lui faces federal charges for allegedly smuggling $300 million in Nvidia chips through Malaysia and Singapore to China. Greg Lui, owner of Earthmade Computer Inc., is charged with smuggling $300 million in restricted Nvidia GPUs to China via Malaysia and Singapore. Originally reported by…
Federal indictment against Greg Lui
A federal indictment unsealed this month accuses Greg Lui of running restricted Nvidia GPUs through Malaysia and Singapore to Chinese buyers.
Greg Lui's background
Lui is the 38-year-old owner of Earthmade Computer Inc. in City of Industry, California.
Hardware smuggling scheme
Prosecutors say Lui bought servers with Nvidia A100 and H100 chips, plus GeForce RTX 4090 and RTX 5090 cards from US manufacturers.
Transshipment route
The hardware allegedly moved through Malaysia and Singapore and ended up in China without a Commerce Department licence.
Specific transaction example
One transaction involved 27 servers bought for roughly $7.6 million in January 2024 and shipped to Kuala Lumpur.
Total smuggling value
Earthmade allegedly took in more than $176 million from two Malaysia-based shipping companies over 2024.
Charges and penalties
Lui faces three charges: conspiracy to violate the Export Control Reform Act, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and outbound smuggling.
Arrest and case status
Lui was arrested October 1 and the case is pending in federal court.
The bottom line
Greg Lui, owner of Earthmade Computer Inc., is charged with smuggling $300 million in restricted Nvidia GPUs to China via Malaysia and Singapore.
