U.S. Charges Four in Scheme to Illegally Export NVIDIA GPUs to China

On November 20, 2025, the U.S. Justice Department announced the arrest of two U.S. citizens and two Chinese nationals for allegedly conspiring to export advanced NVIDIA GPUs, used in artificial intelligence applications, to China without proper licenses.

The individuals charged are Hon Ning Ho (aka “Mathew Ho”), 34, a U.S. citizen living in Tampa, Florida; Brian Curtis Raymond, 46, a U.S. citizen from Huntsville, Alabama; Cham “Tony” Li, 38, a Chinese national residing in California; and Jing “Harry” Chen, 45, a Chinese national in the U.S. on an F-1 visa.

According to the indictment, between September 2023 and November 2025, the conspirators used falsified contracts and a front company — Janford Realtor, LLC, based in Tampa — to disguise their exports.

They allegedly sent 400 NVIDIA A100 GPUs to China via transshipment hubs in Malaysia and Thailand.

Assistant Attorney General John A. Eisenberg described the case as “a deliberate and deceptive effort to transship controlled NVIDIA GPUs to China … by falsifying paperwork, creating fake contracts, and misleading U.S. authorities.”

U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe added that the operation “threatens our country’s national security.”

Authorities say the Chinese government plans to leverage these high-performance AI chips for military modernisation, mass surveillance, and potentially even weapons development.

The four face multiple charges, including violations of the Export Control Reform Act, smuggling, and money laundering.

Law enforcement agencies involved in the investigation include Homeland Security Investigations, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, and the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security