Additional Coverage:
- Four accused in black-market scheme to smuggle hundreds of Nvidia GPUs to China—while raking in millions (fortune.com)
Four Arrested in Elaborate Scheme to Smuggle AI Chips to China
TAMPA, FL – Federal authorities have apprehended four individuals accused of orchestrating an intricate smuggling operation to ship restricted Nvidia artificial intelligence chips from the United States to China. The Department of Justice announced Thursday that the sophisticated network allegedly moved critical components for AI companies from Alabama, through Malaysia and Thailand, and ultimately to recipients in China.
The accused men reportedly failed to obtain the necessary export permissions, seeking to bypass controls designed to restrict the shipment of advanced Nvidia graphics processing units (GPUs). According to the indictment, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) military sought these chips for use in “weapons design and testing, including for weapons of mass destruction, as well as in connection with the PRC’s development and deployment of advanced AI surveillance tools.” The indictment further noted China’s ambition to become “the world leader in AI by 2030” through the development of supercomputing capabilities.
Export controls on advanced computing chips and devices containing them have been enforced by the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security since October 2022.
“As demonstrated by this indictment, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida is firmly committed to safeguarding our country’s national security,” stated U.S.
Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe for the Middle District of Florida.
“Thanks to the dedicated investigative work by our law enforcement partners, these defendants who wrongfully exported this sensitive technology are facing justice.”
The arrests occurred Wednesday across Florida, Alabama, and California. Those apprehended include Hon Ning Ho, also known as Matthew Ho, 34, a U.S. citizen from Hong Kong residing in Tampa, Fla.; Brian Curtis Raymond, 46, a U.S. citizen from Huntsville, Ala.; Cham Li, 38, also known as Tony Li, a Chinese national living in San Leandro, Calif.; and Jing Chen, 45, a Chinese national on an F-1 nonimmigrant student visa living in Tampa, Fla. All four appeared in court on Thursday in their respective locations.
The indictment identifies Raymond as the CEO and sole owner of an unnamed U.S. technology products distributor licensed to sell Nvidia GPUs. His LinkedIn profile lists him as operating Bitworks, a company claiming to deliver “AI at scale with Nvidia HGX and DGX as a certified cloud partner.”
Raymond also identified himself as the Chief Technology Officer of Corvex, an Arlington, Va.-based AI cloud company, a role he stated began in October. Corvex recently announced a merger with med-tech firm Movano, slated to go public upon completion.
A Corvex spokesperson clarified that the company “had no part in the activities cited in the Department of Justice’s indictment. The person in question is not an employee of Corvex. Previously a consultant to the company, he was transitioning into an employee role but that offer has been rescinded.”
Requests for comment from Raymond, Ho, Li, and Chen went unanswered.
The alleged scheme primarily revolved around Janford Realtor LLC, a front company in Tampa owned and controlled by Ho and Li. Through Janford and another unnamed U.S. company, Ho, Chen, and Li allegedly identified Chinese customers seeking Nvidia GPUs and placed orders. Ho and other co-conspirators then reportedly purchased the GPUs from unnamed vendors, including Raymond and another unnamed U.S. company.
The smuggling ring allegedly completed two successful exports, including 400 Nvidia A100 GPUs shipped to China between October 2024 and January 2025 in two separate shipments. Law enforcement disrupted the third and fourth planned shipments, which reportedly included 10 Hewlett Packard Enterprise supercomputers equipped with Nvidia H100 GPUs and an additional 50 Nvidia H200 GPUs. Authorities confirmed that Janford was never involved in any actual real estate transactions, and Raymond allegedly supplied the GPUs through his Alabama-based electronics company.
Messages to Bitworks were not returned, and Nvidia did not respond to a request for comment.
Each of the four defendants faces a maximum sentence of 20 years for exports evasion, 10 years for smuggling charges, and 20 years for each count of money laundering.
These arrests come as Nvidia faces challenges in China due to export regulations. Nvidia Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress recently noted a decline in purchase orders due to geopolitical issues, while advocating for continued access to the Chinese market. “While we were disappointed in the current state that prevents us from shipping more competitive data center compute products to China, we are committed to continued engagement with the U.S. and China governments and will continue to advocate for America’s ability to compete around the world,” Kress stated during Nvidia’s third-quarter earnings call.