California Man Charged With Smuggling Export-Controlled Computer Servers to China

Federal charges against Greg Lui

The U.S. Department of Justice said Greg Lui, 38, also known as Yiu Kong Lui, of San Gabriel, California, was arrested on October 1, 2026, on a three-count federal indictment. Lui owns Earthmade Computer Inc., a City of Industry-based technology company.

The indictment charges Lui with one count of conspiracy to violate the Export Control Reform Act and the Export Administration Regulations, one count of outbound smuggling, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. The alleged scheme involved more than $300 million in export-controlled, high-end computer servers containing U.S.-manufactured graphics processing units.

Servers routed through Asia

From 2023 to 2024, Lui and his co-conspirators allegedly used Earthmade to buy and send export-controlled items to China without the required U.S. Department of Commerce licenses. They reportedly shipped the items to Malaysia and Singapore, where such licenses were not required, before illegally re-exporting them to China.

The servers contained GPUs manufactured by companies that specialize in Super Intelligence computing. According to the indictment, Lui knew that the true end users were in China. Lui and his co-conspirators allegedly provided false documentation to U.S. manufacturers and used freight forwarding companies to conceal the servers' final destinations.

In January 2024, Lui submitted a purchase order for 27 servers containing export-restricted GPUs. The order was worth approximately $7,614,000, and the servers were shipped from Los Angeles to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. A packing list stated that the servers were export-controlled and could not be sent to China without a license. In March, a co-conspirator told a Malaysian government official that the 27 servers had been transshipped to a buyer in China.

From January through October 2024, Earthmade received more than $176 million from two Malaysia-based shipment companies as part of the alleged scheme. U.S. regulations restrict exports of the high-end GPUs to China because the technology could make significant contributions to the military potential of other nations.

Potential penalties and investigation

If convicted on all counts, Lui could receive a maximum of 20 years in prison for the export-control conspiracy count, 20 years for the money laundering conspiracy count, and 10 years for the smuggling count.

The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security Office of Export Enforcement, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, and the FBI are investigating. The case is being prosecuted by the Central District of California and the National Security Division. An indictment is an allegation, and Lui is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Sources: Los Angeles Times · Scmp