Overview
- Hon Ning Ho, Brian Curtis Raymond, Cham “Tony” Li and Jing “Harry” Chen were arrested in coordinated actions in Florida, Alabama and California after charges were unsealed this week.
- Prosecutors say two shipments moved roughly 400 Nvidia A100 GPUs to China between October 2024 and January 2025, while attempts to export 50 H200 GPUs and 10 Hewlett Packard Enterprise supercomputers with H100s were disrupted.
- Investigators report the use of Tampa-based Janford Realtor LLC as a front, with falsified paperwork and fake contracts, and nearly $3.9–$4.0 million in wire transfers from Chinese accounts to fund purchases.
- The defendants face counts including export-control violations, smuggling and money laundering, with potential prison sentences of up to 20 years for the most serious charges.
- The case prompted renewed calls for chip-tracking legislation from the House Select Committee on China, while Nvidia stressed strict compliance processes and Corvex said it rescinded a job offer to a defendant.