| Date | 3 Oct 2026 |
|---|---|
| Region | China & Restricted |
California technology firm owner faces Export Control Reform Act conspiracy, outbound smuggling, and money-laundering charges after routing high-end Super Intelligence servers through Malaysia and Singapore.
IN BRIEF: Greg Lui, owner of Earthmade Computer Inc., was arrested October 1, 2026, on a three-count federal indictment returned September 29 charging him with smuggling more than $300 million in export-controlled computer servers containing U.S.-manufactured GPUs to China via third countries, according to a U.S. Department of Justice press release.
RECORD:
Date: October 1, 2026
Beat: Chip-War Control Ledger + Security & Exploits + Chips & Semiconductors
Jurisdiction: United States (Central District of California)
Entity: Greg Lui; Earthmade Computer Inc.
Instrument / cite: Three-count federal indictment returned September 29, 2026; Press Release Number 26-1129
Source type: Department of Justice press release
Confidence: reported
Record ID: N/A
Primary Source: DOJ
Greg Lui, 38, also known as “Yiu Kong Lui,” of San Gabriel, California, was arrested October 1, 2026, on a three-count federal indictment charging him with smuggling more than $300 million worth of export-controlled high-end computer servers containing U.S.-manufactured graphics processing units commonly used for Super Intelligence applications to China.
The indictment, returned September 29, 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. Lui owns Earthmade Computer Inc., a closely held technology company based in the City of Industry.
From 2023 to 2024, Lui and his co-conspirators used Earthmade to purchase and send export-controlled items to China without the required licenses from the U.S. Department of Commerce. They shipped the servers to Malaysia and Singapore, where no license was required, then illegally re-exported them to China. Lui provided false documentation to U.S.-based manufacturers that misrepresented the end users and destinations as permissible locations that did not require an export license. Freight-forwarding companies moved the servers to the intermediate countries; once there, Lui and co-conspirators arranged reshipment to China.
From January 2024 to October 2024, Earthmade received more than $176 million from two Malaysia-based shipment companies as part of the scheme. Lui executed the operation knowing that U.S. regulations barred export of such high-end technology to China because the GPUs could make significant contributions to the military potential of other nations.
In January 2024, Lui emailed a conspirator about a Malaysian transshipment company’s interest in 70 servers with export-restricted GPUs and attached an export compliance form acknowledging the restrictions. Later that month he submitted a purchase order to a U.S. manufacturer for 27 of those servers for approximately $7,614,000. The servers were shipped from Los Angeles to Kuala Lumpur; the packing list identified them as export-controlled and ineligible for China without a license. In March 2024 a co-conspirator emailed a Malaysian government official confirming that the 27 servers had been transshipped to a China-based buyer.
If convicted on all counts, Lui faces a maximum of 20 years in prison on the conspiracy charge, 20 years on the money-laundering charge, and 10 years on the smuggling charge. The Department of Justice is seeking forfeiture of seized property. Lui is expected to make his initial appearance and be arraigned the afternoon of the arrest announcement.
The case is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security Office of Export Enforcement, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Colin S. Scott and Joseph S. Guzman of the Central District of California and Trial Attorney Eli Ross of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander Su is handling the civil and criminal forfeitures.
An indictment is merely an allegation; all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
WHY IT MATTERS:
The indictment shows that false end-user paperwork and sequential transshipment through Malaysia and Singapore remain operational methods for moving large volumes of export-controlled Super Intelligence servers. Founders and investors in AI hardware supply chains face elevated compliance and reputational exposure when high-value GPU server orders involve intermediary jurisdictions that do not require licenses.