A California tech firm owner has been taken into custody in the United States on accusations that he participated in the illegal shipment of over USD 300 million in restricted computer servers, which included US-manufactured graphics processing units (GPUs), to China.
Federal authorities filed charges against 38-year-old Greg Lui—who is also known as Yiu Kong Lui—for conspiring to breach US export laws, outbound smuggling, and plotting to launder money. Lui is the owner of Earthmade Computer Inc., a technology business operating out of City of Industry, California.
Servers Allegedly Routed Through Third Countries
According to the reports, “Lui and his co-conspirators allegedly used Earthmade to purchase high-end servers containing export-controlled GPUs between 2023 and 2024. Instead of sending the equipment directly to China, they allegedly routed shipments through Malaysia and Singapore.”
US prosecutors said, “The group used false documents to show that the servers were intended for permissible users and destinations. The equipment was then allegedly re-exported to China without the required US licences.”
The servers contained GPUs manufactured by US companies and designed for high-performance computing and artificial intelligence applications. The US government considers some of these technologies sensitive because of their potential contribution to advanced military and AI capabilities.
USD 176 Million in Payments Under Scrutiny
The indictment alleges that Earthmade received more than USD 176 million from two Malaysia-based shipping companies between January and October 2024 as part of the scheme.
One transaction involved 27 servers valued at about USD 7.6 million. The servers contained export-controlled GPUs and were shipped from Los Angeles to Kuala Lumpur. Lui faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison for the export-control conspiracy, 20 years for the money-laundering conspiracy and 10 years for the smuggling charge if convicted on all counts. The FBI, US Commerce Department and Defense Criminal Investigative Service are investigating the case.
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