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Two Americans and two Chinese nationals are accused of secretly funneling advanced Nvidia artificial intelligence (AI) chips to China, a plot prosecutors say threatened U.S. national security and violated strict export controls.
The Department of Justice said in a news release that Hon Ning "Mathew" Ho, 34, a U.S. citizen born in Hong Kong and living in Tampa, Florida; Brian Curtis Raymond, 46, of Huntsville, Alabama; Cham "Tony" Li, 38, a Chinese national living in San Leandro, California; and Jing "Harry" Chen, 45, a Chinese national living in Tampa on a student visa, face multiple counts, including conspiracy to violate the Export Control Reform Act, smuggling and money laundering.
"The indictment unsealed yesterday alleges a deliberate and deceptive effort to transship controlled Nvidia GPUs to China by falsifying paperwork, creating fake contracts and misleading U.S. authorities," Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said.
"The National Security Division is committed to disrupting these kinds of black markets of sensitive U.S. technologies and holding accountable those who participate in this illicit trade."
Four people, including two Chinese nationals, are facing federal charges for allegedly secretly funneling advanced Nvidia AI chips to China. (MF3d/Getty Images / Getty Images)
Prosecutors allege the defendants used a Tampa-based company called Janford Realtor LLC as a front to purchase and export restricted Nvidia GPUs.
Despite its name, Janford Realtor never engaged in any real estate business and was allegedly created to conceal shipments of high-end processors bound for China.
The group conspired from September 2023 through November 2025 to illegally export the advanced chips through third countries, including Malaysia and Thailand, to avoid U.S. export controls, the indictment states.
Investigators said the defendants falsified documents, created fake contracts and misled authorities about the final destination of the technology.
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Jensen Huang, co-founder and CEO of Nvidia Corp., discussing the function of Nvidia chips with the use of AI. (Annabelle Chih/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The conspiracy allegedly involved four separate exports of Nvidia GPUs to China. The first two shipments, sent between October 2024 and January 2025, included roughly 400 Nvidia A100 processors.
Law enforcement disrupted two additional shipments before they were completed, which involved 10 Hewlett Packard Enterprise supercomputers containing Nvidia H100 GPUs and 50 separate H200 GPUs.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NVDA | NVIDIA CORP. | 180.64 | -5.88 | -3.15% |
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Investigators said the defendants received more than $3.8 million in wire transfers from China to fund the operation.
None of the defendants obtained the licenses required to export the technology, and authorities said they knowingly lied about the final destination of the processors to evade U.S. export laws.
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The Department of Justice building in Washington, D.C. (Stefani Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The People’s Republic of China, the indictment noted, seeks to become the world leader in AI by 2030 and aims to use AI for military modernization, including the design and testing of weapons of mass destruction.
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The indictment also alleged that the PRC is pursuing cutting-edge U.S. technology in furtherance of that goal, including Nvidia GPUs.
"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," U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe said. "Thanks to the dedicated investigative work by our law enforcement partners, these defendants who wrongfully exported this sensitive technology are facing justice."
