Federal authorities in California arrested 38-year-old Greg Lui on charges of orchestrating an elaborate scheme to illegally export advanced computer hardware to China. According to federal court documents unsealed by the Department of Justice, Lui allegedly used false paperwork and intermediary third-party countries to route more than $300 million worth of high-end computer servers containing restricted artificial intelligence chips past U.S. export controls.
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A federal grand jury indicted the San Gabriel Valley resident on a three-count indictment. The charges include conspiracy to violate the Export Control Reform Act and Export Administration Regulations, outbound smuggling, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Prosecutors state that the illegal operation ran from October 2023 through August 2026, utilizing Lui’s City of Industry-based technology firm, Earthmade Computer Inc.
Bypassing U.S. Export Controls Through Transshipment Hubs
The core of the smuggling operation relied on masking the final destination of export-controlled graphics processing units (GPUs). These included high-end models like Nvidia’s A100 and H100, which are heavily regulated due to their critical role in powering advanced artificial intelligence and military capabilities. Because the U.S. Commerce Department restricts direct shipments of these high-performance semiconductors to China, Lui and his co-conspirators allegedly used freight forwarders to reroute shipments.
The servers were initially sent from the United States to countries such as Malaysia and Singapore, jurisdictions where specific export licenses for these units were not required at the time. Once the shipments arrived in these Southeast Asian transshipment hubs, Lui and his associates arranged for the equipment to be re-exported directly to buyers in China, deliberately bypassing oversight.
Court records highlight a specific transaction from January 2024, when Lui submitted a purchase order to a U.S. manufacturer for 27 servers loaded with restricted GPUs, totaling approximately $7.6 million. The initial paperwork indicated the shipment was headed to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, but internal communications later confirmed the servers were successfully delivered to a China-based buyer.
Financial Scale and Potential Prison Sentences
The scale of Earthmade Computer Inc.’s illicit transactions was immense. Financial records cited in the indictment reveal that Lui’s firm received more than $176 million from two Malaysia-based shipping companies during 2024 alone as part of the ongoing conspiracy.
Federal prosecutors and law enforcement agencies-including the FBI, the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS)-emphasized the critical nature of protecting sensitive technology. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli for the Central District of California stated that the defendant knowingly put national security at risk for profit.
If convicted on all counts, Lui faces a statutory maximum penalty of up to 50 years in federal prison. This breaks down to a maximum of 20 years each for the conspiracy and money laundering charges, and up to 10 years for outbound smuggling. Additionally, the Department of Justice is pursuing full asset forfeiture for all proceeds generated by Earthmade Computer Inc. throughout the scheme.
Broader Crackdown on Semiconductor Diversion
The arrest of Greg Lui underscores an intensifying federal crackdown on illicit technology transfer networks designed to bridge China’s high-tech computing gap. With the United States imposing rigorous trade restrictions to maintain its strategic advantage in advanced computing, federal agencies have stepped up monitoring of third-party shipping routes and secondary tech markets across Asia.
Legal proceedings for the case, designated as USA v. Lui (Case No. 26-cr-00618) in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, continue as prosecutors seek to keep the defendant detained as a flight risk pending trial.
