Feds Arrest Solution Provider Owner In Alleged $300M GPU Server Smuggling Scheme

Federal authorities allege solution provider EarthMade Computer owner Greg Lui allegedly smuggled more than $300 million in export-controlled servers containing U.S.-made GPUs to China in a scheme that the U.S. Department of Justice says routed restricted technology through Malaysia and Singapore in violation of export controls.

Federal authorities said the owner of a Southern California solution provider allegedly smuggled more than $300 million in export-controlled computer servers containing U.S.-made GPUs to China.

The U.S. Department of Justice Thursday said that Greg Lui, also known as Yiu Kong Lui, the owner of City of Industry, Calif.-based EarthMade Computer, was arrested based on a federal indictment returned Sept. 29. He faces charges of conspiracy to violate export-control laws, outbound smuggling, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

[Related: Supermicro Co-Founder, Two Others Charged In Alleged Nvidia AI Chip Smuggling Operation]

According to the DOJ, prosecutors allege that from 2023 to 2024, Lui and co-conspirators used EarthMade to buy restricted servers and route them through Malaysia and Singapore before re-exporting them to China without the required U.S. Commerce Department licenses. They allegedly submitted false documents identifying permissible end users and destinations.

EarthMade received more than $176 million from two Malaysia-based shipping companies between January and October 2024, the indictment said.

In one alleged transaction, Lui ordered 27 restricted servers for about $7.6 million and arranged shipment from Los Angeles to Kuala Lumpur. A co-conspirator later told a Malaysian official that the servers had been sent to a China-based buyer.

If convicted on all counts, Lui could face up to 20 years in prison on each conspiracy charge and up to 10 years on the smuggling charge.

The DOJ did not say which company manufactured the servers. EarthMade, on its website, offers a wide range of Supermicro-based servers as well as a single Dell PowerEdge server. The company also appears to be a reseller of several Nvidia products, including a GPU and several networking switches.

CRN has reached out to the DOJ, Supermicro, EarthMade Computer and Greg Lui for comment. A phone call made to EarthMade was answered by a recorded message that said, “Please leave your message for,” followed by a man’s voice saying “Greg.”

The latest move by the DOJ comes about six months after a co-founder of Supermicro along with an employee and a contractor were indicted for allegedly shipping $2.5 billion worth of servers assembled in the U.S. with Nvidia GPUs via Taiwan to another company where they were repackaged prior to shipping to their final destinations in China.