Federal prosecutors allege Greg Lui routed export-controlled computer servers containing advanced U.S.-made GPUs through Malaysia and Singapore before they reached China.
LOS ANGELES, CA — A California technology company owner has been arrested on federal charges alleging he smuggled more than $300 million worth of export-controlled computer servers containing advanced U.S.-manufactured graphics processing units to China, according to the Justice Department.
Greg Lui, 38, also known as Yiu Kong Lui, of San Gabriel, was charged in a three-count federal indictment returned Sept. 29. Prosecutors allege Lui and others used his company, Earthmade Computer Inc., to obtain high-end servers and route them through other countries to conceal China as their ultimate destination. The GPUs inside the servers are used for advanced computing and artificial intelligence applications and are subject to U.S. export restrictions.
Lui is charged 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 charges are allegations, and Lui is presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
According to the indictment, Lui owns Earthmade Computer, a closely held technology company based in the City of Industry. Prosecutors allege that from 2023 through 2024, Lui and his co-conspirators used the business to purchase export-controlled equipment and send it toward China without licenses required by the U.S. Department of Commerce. Rather than shipping the equipment directly to China, the defendants allegedly sent servers to Malaysia and Singapore before arranging for them to be re-exported to China.
Federal authorities allege the group provided false documentation to U.S.-based manufacturers that identified permissible destinations and end users instead of the servers’ intended recipients in China. Freight forwarding companies were then used to move the equipment to intermediate destinations, according to the indictment. Prosecutors said Earthmade received more than $176 million from two Malaysia-based shipping companies between January and October 2024 as part of the alleged scheme.
The indictment describes one transaction involving dozens of servers equipped with restricted GPUs. In January 2024, prosecutors allege, Lui emailed a co-conspirator about a Malaysian transshipment company seeking to purchase 70 servers containing export-restricted GPUs. The correspondence included an export compliance form indicating that the Malaysian company was aware of U.S. restrictions governing the sale, transshipment and export of the servers.
Later that month, according to prosecutors, Lui submitted an order to a U.S. manufacturer for 27 servers valued at about $7.6 million. Lui and a co-conspirator allegedly arranged for the servers to be shipped from Los Angeles to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Shipping documents identified the equipment as containing export-controlled GPUs that could not be sent to China without a license. In March 2024, prosecutors allege, a co-conspirator told a Malaysian government official by email that the 27 servers had been transshipped to a buyer in China.
The case comes as federal authorities continue enforcing restrictions on exports of advanced computing equipment to China. U.S. regulations impose licensing requirements on certain high-performance GPUs and related systems because of concerns about their potential contribution to military capabilities. The indictment alleges Lui knew the equipment was subject to those restrictions while participating in the transactions.
The Justice Department said 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. Federal prosecutors in the Central District of California and the Justice Department’s National Security Division are handling the prosecution. Reuters reported that Lui could not be reached for comment and Earthmade Computer did not immediately respond to its request for comment.
If convicted, Lui faces statutory maximum penalties of 20 years in federal prison on the export-control conspiracy charge, 20 years on the money laundering conspiracy charge and 10 years on the smuggling charge. Those are maximum penalties rather than a prediction of any sentence. The Justice Department said Lui was expected to make his initial appearance and be arraigned Oct. 2 in U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles.
Author note: Last updated October 2, 2026.