Four men have been indicted on federal criminal charges for allegedly plotting to illegally export millions of dollars worth of restricted NVIDIA chips to China and Hong Kong, circumventing strict U.S. export controls aimed at restricting access to advanced AI and supercomputing technology, according to a report. Citing court documents, CNBC reported that the indictment revealed a complex operation that routed highly controlled chips through Malaysia and Thailand to evade detection. According to prosecutors, the defendants did not have the necessary permits from the Department of Commerce to export.Brian Curtis Raymond, 46, of Huntsville, Alabama, ran a technology products distributor called Bitworks that was licensed to sell Nvidia GPUs. Just last week, Raymond was announced as chief technology officer of Corvex, a Virginia-based AI cloud company that plans to go public through a merger. After the indictment, Corvex rescinded the offer and acknowledged that he was never an employee, but only a consultant transitioning into a full-time role.The other three defendants, Matthew Ho (also known as Hong Ning-Ho), Jing Chen (Harry Chen), and Chum Li (Tony Lee), were all born in China or Hong Kong. Ho, a 34-year-old U.S. citizen living in Florida, was a registered agent for the Tampa firm Janford Realtor, but prosecutors allege he never conducted any real estate transactions and instead facilitated illegal chip exports.All four defendants are charged with conspiracy to violate the Export Control Reform Act of 2018. Raymond faces additional charges, including money laundering related to wire transfers exceeding $3.4 million, smuggling, and multiple export control violations. If convicted, each defendant faces up to 20 years in prison.The alleged scheme involved submitting false documentation regarding shipping consignees, chip values, and export permits.
What Nvidia chips were involved in illegal exports?
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida, between October 2024 and January 2025, 400 Nvidia A100 chips were successfully exported to China in two separate shipments. Law enforcement thwarted two additional export attempts involving 10 Hewlett Packard Enterprise supercomputers equipped with Nvidia H100 GPUs and 50 individual Nvidia H200 GPUs.The indictment highlights that China is “rapidly developing exascale supercomputing capabilities and has announced its intention to become the world leader in AI by 2030.” Prosecutors say these advanced chips enable capabilities used in military modernization and the design and testing of weapons, including weapons of mass destruction.
