The Pulse
DOJ Arrests Greg Lui in Alleged $300 Million Server Scheme
Federal prosecutors say Greg Lui used Earthmade Computer to route export-controlled servers through Malaysia and Singapore before their alleged re-export to China. The indictment charges him with export-control conspiracy, smuggling and mon
AI.info Team · Written with AI ·
Federal prosecutors say Greg Lui used false paperwork and shipments routed through Malaysia and Singapore to move export-controlled servers to China; the indictment that underpins their case remains an allegation, not a finding of guilt. The Justice Department announced Lui’s arrest on October 1, 2026, charging him with conspiring to violate export controls, outbound smuggling and conspiring to commit money laundering. The case centers on more than $300 million worth of high-end servers containing U.S.-manufactured graphics processing units, or GPUs, used in advanced computing.
Authorities say the alleged scheme ran from 2023 to 2024 through Earthmade Computer Inc., a technology company Lui owns. The indictment alleges that the servers were bought in the United States, shipped to countries where the sales did not require the same export licenses, then re-exported to China. The Justice Department says Lui knew the intended end users were in China and that the U.S. manufacturers received false information about the destinations.
Malaysia and Singapore as shipping stops
According to the indictment as summarized by the Justice Department, Earthmade used freight-forwarding companies to send servers to Malaysia and Singapore before their alleged onward shipment to China. From January through October 2024, Earthmade received more than $176 million from two Malaysia-based shipping companies as part of the alleged scheme. Prosecutors say the route concealed the ultimate destination from U.S. manufacturers and bypassed licensing requirements.
One transaction described in the release began with an email in January 2024. Lui allegedly wrote to a co-conspirator that a Malaysian transshipment company wanted 70 servers with export-restricted GPUs. Later that month, Lui submitted an order to a U.S. manufacturer for 27 servers at about $7.614 million; the shipment went from Los Angeles to Kuala Lumpur, according to prosecutors.
A packing list identified the 27 machines as servers containing GPUs that could not be sent to China without a license, the Justice Department says. In March, a co-conspirator told a Malaysian government official that the servers had been transshipped to a buyer in China. The account in the release describes the alleged movement of that shipment; it does not establish that Lui has been convicted.
Three federal counts, three possible sentences
Lui, 38, of San Gabriel, California, also known as Yiu Kong Lui, was expected to make an initial court appearance and be arraigned on October 1. The indictment charges one count of conspiracy to violate the Export Control Reform Act and Export Administration Regulations, one count of outbound smuggling, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
If convicted on all three counts, he could face up to 20 years in prison on each conspiracy count and up to 10 years on the smuggling count, according to the Justice Department. Those are statutory maximum penalties, not a sentence recommendation or a prediction of the outcome. The department states that defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Prosecutors frame the case as a security concern
“This defendant allegedly used false paperwork and shipments through third countries to smuggle more than $300 million in export-controlled computer servers to China,” said Bill Essayli, first assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California. The Justice Department says the GPU exports were restricted because such high-end technology could contribute significantly to another nation’s military potential.
The Bureau of Industry and Security, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service and the FBI are investigating. Assistant U.S. attorneys Colin S. Scott and Joseph S. Guzman, along with Trial Attorney Eli Ross of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, are prosecuting the case. The next concrete step is the federal court process following Lui’s arrest and arraignment.
U.S. Department of Justice, press release, October 1, 2026