US charges Earthmade owner Greg Lui with smuggling more than $300 million of GPU servers to China

The US Justice Department said on 1 October that it had arrested Greg Lui, 38, of San Gabriel, California, also known as Yiu Kong Lui, who owns Earthmade Computer Inc. in City of Industry. Prosecutors allege he smuggled more than $300 million of export-controlled computer servers to China. A federal grand jury returned a three-count indictment on 29 September: conspiracy to violate the Export Control Reform Act, outbound smuggling, and conspiracy to launder money.

Prosecutors say that in 2023 and 2024 Lui and others used Earthmade to buy high-end servers containing US-made GPUs without the Commerce Department licences they needed. The servers went to Malaysia and Singapore, where no licence was required, and were then sent on to China. The manufacturers were given false documents saying the servers would go to permitted buyers. The indictment says Earthmade received more than $176 million from two Malaysia-based shipping companies between January and October 2024.

In one example, a Malaysian firm asked for 70 servers in January 2024; Lui later bought 27 for about $7.6 million and shipped them from Los Angeles to Kuala Lumpur, and in March 2024 a co-conspirator said the 27 had gone to a buyer in China.

The maximum sentences are 20 years each for the two conspiracy counts and 10 years for smuggling. The release does not name the GPU maker or the server makers. An indictment is an allegation, and Lui is presumed innocent. The Switchboard noted the case in one line; this is the full account.

• Confirmed A grand jury indictment returned on 29 September charges Lui with three counts, and his arrest was announced on 1 October. US Department of Justice
• Confirmed The indictment alleges Earthmade received more than $176 million from two Malaysia-based shipment companies between January and October 2024. US Department of Justice
• Confirmed The maximum sentences are 20 years each for the two conspiracy counts and 10 years for smuggling. US Department of Justice