California technology-company owner Greg Lui has been charged in a three-count federal indictment over an alleged scheme to send more than $300 million worth of export-controlled computer servers to China without the required U.S. licenses.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced Lui’s arrest on October 1, 2026. Lui, 38, who is also identified by authorities as Yiu Kong Lui, owns Earthmade Computer Inc., a technology company based in City of Industry, California. Justice.gov

Federal prosecutors allege that Lui and unidentified co-conspirators purchased high-end servers containing U.S.-manufactured graphics processing units, routed shipments through countries including Malaysia and Singapore, and then re-exported the equipment to China.

The indictment charges Lui with three offenses:

conspiracy to violate U.S. export-control laws, outbound smuggling, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Justice.gov

These are allegations contained in a federal indictment, not findings of guilt. The Justice Department explicitly states that Lui is presumed innocent unless and until prosecutors prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt. Justice.gov

Here is what the Greg Lui DOJ charges actually allege, how the alleged shipping arrangement worked, why high-end GPUs are subject to export controls, and what could happen next in the federal case.

Greg Lui DOJ Charges at a Glance

Question	Current Information
Defendant	Greg Lui, also known as Yiu Kong Lui
Age	38
Residence	San Gabriel, California
Company	Earthmade Computer Inc.
Company location	City of Industry, California
Indictment returned	September 29, 2026
Arrest announced	October 1, 2026
Number of federal counts	3
Alleged value of servers	More than $300 million
Alleged destinations	China via Malaysia and Singapore
Technology	Export-controlled servers containing U.S.-made GPUs
Export-control conspiracy maximum	20 years
Smuggling maximum	10 years
Money-laundering conspiracy maximum	20 years
Investigating agencies	BIS, DCIS and FBI
Case status	Criminal allegations; no conviction

The DOJ’s Central District of California announcement provides the charges, alleged conduct and statutory maximum penalties. Justice.gov

Who Is Greg Lui?

Greg Lui is a 38-year-old San Gabriel, California resident who federal prosecutors identify as the owner of Earthmade Computer Inc.

According to the DOJ, Earthmade is a closely held technology company based in City of Industry, an industrial and commercial area east of Los Angeles. Justice.gov

A federal grand jury returned the indictment against Lui on September 29, 2026.

Federal agents arrested him on October 1.

The DOJ initially said he was expected to make an initial appearance and be arraigned in U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles the following day. Reporting available on October 3 indicated that a plea had not yet been confirmed in the public court information reviewed by reporters. Business Insider

Because this is an active criminal case, those procedural details can change quickly.

What Are the Three Charges Against Greg Lui?

The indictment contains three federal counts.

1. Conspiracy to Violate U.S. Export Controls

Lui is charged with conspiracy to violate the Export Control Reform Act and the Export Administration Regulations, commonly called the EAR. Justice.gov

The EAR govern exports and reexports of many U.S.-controlled commodities, software and technologies.

The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security maintains the Commerce Control List and determines when particular controlled products require licenses based on factors including the technology, destination, end user and intended use. Bureau of Industry and Security

The statutory maximum cited by the DOJ for this conspiracy count is:

20 years in federal prison. Justice.gov

2. Outbound Smuggling

The second count alleges outbound smuggling.

Prosecutors claim restricted servers were exported through intermediate destinations before ultimately reaching China.

The statutory maximum identified by DOJ for the smuggling count is:

10 years. Justice.gov

3. Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering

The third charge is conspiracy to commit money laundering.

The indictment alleges substantial payments were associated with the server transactions, including more than $176 million that Earthmade allegedly received from two Malaysia-based shipment companies between January and October 2024. Justice.gov

The statutory maximum for this count is:

20 years.

Those numbers are maximum penalties established for the charged offenses. They do not mean Lui has been sentenced or that a court would necessarily impose consecutive maximum sentences if he were convicted. Sentencing would occur only after a conviction or guilty plea and would depend on federal sentencing law and the circumstances of the case.

What Does the DOJ Say the Alleged Scheme Involved?

According to federal prosecutors, the alleged conduct occurred primarily during 2023 and 2024.

The DOJ says Lui and his alleged co-conspirators used Earthmade Computer to purchase high-end computer servers containing export-controlled GPUs from U.S. manufacturers. Justice.gov

The prosecutors’ theory is that the equipment’s true destination was China.

Rather than shipping the equipment directly to China, the government alleges it was first sent to countries such as:

Malaysia and Singapore.

The DOJ says those shipments could be made without the particular China export license at issue.

Prosecutors allege that after arriving in those intermediary countries, the servers were then re-exported to China. Justice.gov

This type of alleged routing is sometimes called transshipment.

The important legal issue is not merely that a shipment passed through another country. International transshipment is common and legitimate.

The government’s allegation is that the intermediary destinations were used to conceal the servers’ actual prohibited or controlled destination and bypass U.S. licensing requirements.

DOJ Alleges False End-User Documents Were Used

The indictment also alleges that Lui and other participants provided false information to U.S.-based manufacturers.

According to the Justice Department, documentation allegedly represented that the servers would be going to lawful end users and destinations that did not require a China export license. Justice.gov

The government alleges that the actual plan was different.

After the equipment reached Malaysia or Singapore, prosecutors say freight-forwarding arrangements were used to move it onward to China.

That distinction is central to the case.

U.S. export controls can apply not just to the first destination written on a shipping label, but also to reexports, transfers, ultimate end users and end uses.

BIS regulations contain specific controls relating to end users, end uses and advanced computing products. Bureau of Industry and Security

What Happened With the 27 Servers Worth $7.6 Million?

The DOJ highlighted one transaction as an example of the alleged scheme.

In January 2024, prosecutors say Lui emailed a co-conspirator about a Malaysian transshipment company seeking to purchase:

70 servers containing export-restricted GPUs.

The correspondence allegedly included an export-compliance form acknowledging restrictions on the servers. Justice.gov

Later that month, prosecutors say Lui submitted a purchase order to a U.S. manufacturer for:

27 servers

worth approximately:

$7.614 million.

The servers were then shipped from Los Angeles to:

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

According to DOJ, the packing documents identified the servers as containing controlled GPUs that could not lawfully be exported to China without the required authorization. Justice.gov

Then, in March 2024, prosecutors say a co-conspirator emailed a Malaysian government official stating that the 27 servers had been transshipped to a buyer in China. Justice.gov

Again, those assertions come from the government’s indictment and have not yet been proven at trial.

Why Does the Case Involve More Than $300 Million?

The $300 million figure refers to the alleged total value of export-controlled computer servers involved in the broader conduct described by prosecutors.

The case was not limited to the $7.6 million shipment.

The DOJ says Earthmade and the alleged co-conspirators engaged in a broader pattern of purchases and shipments.

Between January and October 2024 alone, Earthmade allegedly received:

more than $176 million

from two Malaysia-based shipment companies connected to the scheme. Justice.gov

Federal prosecutors characterize the overall value of the controlled servers allegedly sent to China as exceeding:

$300 million.

Were the Servers Using Nvidia GPUs?

There is an important distinction between the DOJ’s public press release and subsequent reporting.

The Justice Department’s October 1 announcement says the servers contained “U.S.-manufactured” GPUs used in advanced computing, but the public DOJ release does not name Nvidia as the manufacturer. Justice.gov

However, reporting based on the federal indictment has identified Nvidia hardware.

The Los Angeles Times reported that the indictment describes Nvidia chips, including H100 and A100 GPUs, among the restricted hardware allegedly involved. Bloomberg also reported that the case involves Nvidia AI chips. Los Angeles Times

Therefore, the most precise description is:

The DOJ’s public announcement does not name Nvidia, while news organizations reviewing the indictment report that Nvidia GPUs were among the equipment involved.

That distinction avoids overstating what the DOJ itself publicly said.

Why Are Advanced GPUs Subject to U.S. Export Controls?

Modern GPUs are no longer used only for video games or graphics.

Large clusters of high-performance GPUs are used for:

artificial-intelligence training,

scientific computing,

data centers,

simulation,

and other computationally intensive applications.

The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security maintains controls on certain advanced-computing products because the U.S. government says those technologies can have national-security and military applications. Bureau of Industry and Security

BIS has repeatedly revised the rules as chip technology and U.S.-China trade policy have evolved.

In 2026, for example, Commerce revised its licensing approach for some semiconductor exports to China, permitting certain products to be considered on a case-by-case basis when specified security requirements are met. Bureau of Industry and Security

That does not mean all advanced GPUs may freely be shipped to China.

Different products, specifications, buyers, parent companies, end uses and transaction structures can trigger different requirements.

The Greg Lui case concerns prosecutors’ allegation that the particular servers involved required authorization that the defendants did not obtain.

Why Does AI Computing Hardware Matter So Much?

Training frontier artificial-intelligence models requires enormous computing resources.

High-end accelerators can perform vast numbers of calculations in parallel, making them particularly valuable for training and running large AI models.

That growing dependence on computing power has made advanced semiconductors and GPU servers an important part of the wider AI competition among companies and countries.

Elite Era Trends has previously explored how increasingly capable AI systems are beginning to assist with AI research itself in our guide to self-improving AI and recursive AI development.

The hardware issue matters because more capable AI development is not determined by algorithms alone.

It also depends on access to:

compute capacity, energy, data-center infrastructure and specialized chips.

What Did the FBI Say About the China Connection?

The DOJ announcement includes a statement from Roman Rozhavsky, assistant director of the FBI’s Counterintelligence and Espionage Division.

Rozhavsky said the FBI’s investigation found that Lui allegedly sold hundreds of millions of dollars of U.S. advanced-computing technology to the Chinese government. Justice.gov

That statement should be understood as a government allegation.

The indictment has not yet produced a conviction establishing the government’s account as fact.

Federal officials argue that controlling certain advanced technologies is necessary because sophisticated computing hardware can potentially contribute to military and intelligence capabilities.

What Is the Export Administration Regulations System?

The Export Administration Regulations, or EAR, are administered by the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security.

They cover many commodities, software products and technologies subject to U.S. export jurisdiction.

The system includes the Commerce Control List, which classifies controlled products using Export Control Classification Numbers, commonly called ECCNs. Bureau of Industry and Security

Whether a license is required can depend on several variables rather than simply where a product was manufactured.

Relevant factors may include the item’s classification, destination country, ultimate consignee, parent company, end user and intended use.

BIS also regulates certain reexports, meaning transactions where U.S.-controlled items already outside the United States are subsequently sent to another destination.

That is particularly relevant to the DOJ’s allegation that servers were first sent to Malaysia and Singapore and later moved to China.

For the current rules themselves, readers can consult the Bureau of Industry and Security’s Export Administration Regulations.

Does Shipping Through Malaysia or Singapore Automatically Violate U.S. Law?

No.

This distinction is essential.

There is nothing inherently illegal about sending U.S. technology to Malaysia or Singapore.

The allegation in this case is much narrower.

Prosecutors claim those destinations were used as intermediary points while the parties knew China was the actual intended destination.

The legality of a specific export transaction depends on the product, parties, licensing requirements, end destination and other circumstances.

So the case should not be interpreted as meaning:

“Shipping servers through Malaysia is illegal.”

The government’s theory is that the alleged participants used intermediate shipments and false representations to evade restrictions that applied to the ultimate China transaction.

Who Is Investigating the Greg Lui Case?

The investigation involves several federal agencies.

The DOJ identifies the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security Office of Export Enforcement, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, and the FBI’s Counterintelligence and Espionage Division. Justice.gov

Federal prosecutors Colin S. Scott and Joseph S. Guzman of the Central District of California are prosecuting the case along with Justice Department National Security Division trial attorney Eli Ross.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander Su is handling civil and criminal forfeiture issues associated with seized property. Justice.gov

What Happens Next in the Greg Lui Case?

An indictment begins a criminal prosecution; it does not decide the outcome.

The case can proceed through arraignment, discovery, pretrial litigation and potentially trial unless it is resolved another way.

Lui will have the opportunity to challenge the government’s evidence and allegations through counsel.

Prosecutors would ultimately carry the burden of proving every required element of any charge beyond a reasonable doubt if the case went to trial.

As of October 3, public reporting reviewed for this article had not confirmed a guilty plea or conviction. Business Insider

That means headlines should continue using language such as:

“charged,” “accused,” “alleged” and “prosecutors say.”

Calling the alleged scheme proven smuggling would be premature.

Could Greg Lui Really Receive 50 Years in Prison?

You may see headlines saying Lui “faces 50 years.”

That figure comes from adding the statutory maximums cited by the DOJ:

Charge	Statutory Maximum
Export-control conspiracy	20 years
Outbound smuggling	10 years
Money-laundering conspiracy	20 years

Together, those maximums total:

50 years. Justice.gov

But that does not mean a 50-year sentence is expected or predetermined.

First, Lui has not been convicted.

Second, sentencing after a federal conviction involves numerous factors, including the statutes, Federal Sentencing Guidelines, criminal history, relevant conduct and decisions by the judge.

The accurate wording is therefore:

If convicted, Lui faces statutory maximum penalties of 20 years, 10 years and 20 years on the respective charges.

How Does This Case Fit Into the Wider AI Race?

The Greg Lui case arrives amid intense competition over advanced artificial intelligence and the computing infrastructure required to develop it.

AI laboratories increasingly rely on large clusters of specialized GPUs to train sophisticated models.

At the same time, U.S. policymakers have used export controls as one tool for managing access to some high-performance computing technologies.

The debate involves competing economic, national-security and technology-policy considerations.

Supporters of tighter controls argue that restricting some advanced chips can limit military and intelligence applications by strategic competitors.

Critics of particular restrictions have argued that overly broad controls can reduce U.S. companies’ international sales, encourage alternative supply chains and accelerate foreign efforts to develop competing technologies.

The Commerce Department has repeatedly adjusted licensing policy as officials attempt to balance those considerations. Bureau of Industry and Security

For background on why competition over increasingly capable AI systems has become so intense, see Elite Era Trends’ coverage of the race toward self-improving AI and why former Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon warned about the AI race.

Is Earthmade Computer Charged?

The DOJ’s October 1 announcement identifies Greg Lui as the defendant in the three-count indictment and describes Earthmade Computer as the company allegedly used in the transactions.

The public DOJ announcement does not state that Earthmade itself was separately charged as a corporate defendant. Justice.gov

Readers should therefore avoid turning allegations against Lui into unsupported claims that every employee or business associated with Earthmade committed a crime.

Has Greg Lui Been Found Guilty?

No.

This is currently a criminal prosecution based on an indictment.

An indictment means a grand jury determined there was sufficient basis for prosecutors to bring the charges.

It is not a verdict.

The DOJ itself emphasizes:

the allegations must still be proven in court, and defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Justice.gov

That presumption should remain clear throughout coverage of the case.

Greg Lui DOJ Charges FAQ

What did Greg Lui get charged with?

Greg Lui faces three federal counts: conspiracy to violate the Export Control Reform Act and Export Administration Regulations, outbound smuggling, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Justice.gov

Who is Greg Lui?

The Justice Department identifies Greg Lui, also known as Yiu Kong Lui, as a 38-year-old San Gabriel resident and owner of Earthmade Computer Inc. in City of Industry, California. Justice.gov

How much technology was allegedly shipped to China?

Federal prosecutors say the alleged scheme involved more than $300 million worth of export-controlled computer servers. Justice.gov

What kind of servers were involved?

The DOJ says they were high-end computer servers containing U.S.-manufactured GPUs used for advanced computing applications. Subsequent reporting on the indictment identifies Nvidia GPUs among the hardware. Justice.gov

Did the DOJ say Nvidia was involved?

The DOJ’s public press release does not name Nvidia. The Los Angeles Times and Bloomberg reported from the indictment that Nvidia chips were involved. Los Angeles Times

Why were the servers allegedly sent through Malaysia and Singapore?

Prosecutors allege that those locations were used as intermediate destinations before the equipment was re-exported to China, allowing the conspirators to evade the licensing requirements that applied to the ultimate destination. Justice.gov

How much money did Earthmade allegedly receive?

The indictment says Earthmade received more than $176 million from two Malaysia-based shipment companies between January and October 2024. Justice.gov

What was the $7.6 million shipment?

Prosecutors cite a January 2024 purchase of 27 export-controlled servers valued at approximately $7.614 million that were shipped to Kuala Lumpur. The government alleges they were later transshipped to a buyer in China. Justice.gov

What prison sentence could Greg Lui face?

The statutory maximums cited by the DOJ are 20 years for the export-control conspiracy, 10 years for outbound smuggling and 20 years for the money-laundering conspiracy. Those are maximum penalties, not an imposed sentence. Justice.gov

Has Greg Lui pleaded guilty?

As of the latest reporting reviewed on October 3, 2026, a guilty plea had not been confirmed. He remains accused, not convicted. Business Insider

Which agencies are investigating?

The investigation involves the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service and the FBI. Justice.gov

Greg Lui DOJ Charges: Bottom Line

The Greg Lui DOJ charges center on an alleged effort to move more than $300 million in export-controlled high-end computer servers from the United States to China without required licenses.

Federal prosecutors say Lui and alleged co-conspirators used his company, Earthmade Computer Inc., to purchase the equipment, supplied false information concerning destinations and end users, routed servers through Malaysia and Singapore, and then arranged for them to be moved onward to China. Justice.gov

The indictment contains three charges:

conspiracy to violate federal export controls, outbound smuggling, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

One transaction highlighted by prosecutors involved 27 servers worth approximately $7.6 million, while Earthmade allegedly received more than $176 million from two Malaysia-based shipment companies during a 10-month period in 2024. Justice.gov

The case also illustrates why advanced computing hardware has become a major focus of U.S. technology policy. BIS regulates certain advanced-computing exports and reexports based on their capabilities, destinations and end users, with officials citing national-security concerns surrounding high-performance computing and AI. Bureau of Industry and Security

But the legal status of the case remains equally important.

Greg Lui has been charged, not convicted. The indictment represents the government’s allegations, and prosecutors would need to prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt to obtain convictions at trial.