Federal authorities arrested Greg Lui, 38, the owner of a Southern California technology company, on Oct. 1 and charged him with allegedly smuggling more than $300 million worth of high-end computer servers used for artificial intelligence applications to China. Lui, who also uses the name Yiu Kong Lui, is expected to make his first court appearance in federal court in downtown Los Angeles.

According to prosecutors, Lui faces charges including conspiracy to violate U.S. export control laws, outbound smuggling and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Authorities allege that he used his City of Industry-based company, Earthmade Computer Inc., to purchase and export technology subject to U.S. licensing requirements.

Investigators allege that Lui and his partners avoided export restrictions by routing the servers through countries including Malaysia and Singapore before ultimately sending them to China. Prosecutors say the group provided U.S. manufacturers with falsified documentation that misrepresented the final destination of the equipment and then used freight forwarding companies to move the servers through intermediary countries.

The equipment allegedly included high-end servers equipped with graphics processing units manufactured by companies specializing in artificial intelligence computing. Investigators further allege that Earthmade received more than $176 million from two Malaysia-based shipping companies between January and October 2024 in connection with the transactions.

U.S. officials said the investigation reflects broader efforts to prevent advanced computing technology from reaching foreign governments in ways that could undermine U.S. national security. The allegations remain unproven in court, and it was not immediately clear whether Lui had obtained legal representation when the charges were announced.