Four Individuals Arrested in Alleged Scheme to Illegally Export Nvidia AI Chips to China

Four Charged in International AI Chip Smuggling Ring

The U.S. Justice Department announced on Thursday, November 20, 2025, the arrests of two Chinese nationals and two American citizens on charges of conspiring to illegally export advanced Nvidia graphics processing units (GPUs) with artificial intelligence applications to China. The indictment alleges a sophisticated scheme to circumvent U.S. export controls, which are in place to restrict China's access to high-end semiconductor technology.

The individuals charged are Cham Li, 38, a Chinese national residing in California; Jing Chen, 45, a Chinese national on an F-1 nonimmigrant student visa residing in Tampa, Florida; Hon Ning Ho, 34, a U.S. citizen born in Hong Kong residing in Tampa, Florida; and Brian Curtis Raymond, 46, an American residing in Huntsville, Alabama. They face charges of conspiring to violate the Export Control Reform Act and money laundering, each carrying a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison upon conviction.

Deceptive Practices and Financial Transactions

Prosecutors allege that the conspiracy operated from September 2023 to November 2025. The defendants reportedly engaged in a 'deliberate and deceptive effort to transship controlled Nvidia GPUs to China by falsifying paperwork, creating fake contracts, and misleading U.S. authorities,' according to Assistant Attorney General John Eisenberg. The scheme allegedly involved using a Tampa-based shell company, Janford Realtor LLC, owned by Ho and Li, which despite its name, was not involved in real estate. Brian Curtis Raymond, through his Alabama-based electronics company, is accused of supplying the GPUs to the others, knowing their ultimate destination was China.

The group allegedly received more than $3.89 million in wire transfers from China to finance the illegal export operation.

Controlled Technology and Intercepted Shipments

The chips involved in the alleged scheme are cutting-edge Nvidia GPUs, including:

• 400 Nvidia A100 GPUs, which were successfully exported to China between October 2024 and January 2025 in two shipments.
• 50 Nvidia H200 GPUs, which were intercepted by law enforcement.
• 10 Hewlett Packard Enterprises supercomputers containing Nvidia H100 GPUs, also intercepted.

U.S. export controls on advanced semiconductors to China have been in effect since October 2022. These restrictions are driven by concerns that China seeks to leverage such technology for its military modernization efforts, including the design and testing of weapons of mass destruction and the deployment of advanced AI surveillance tools, as it aims to become the world leader in AI by 2030.

Ongoing Enforcement Efforts

The Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security have been actively investigating and disrupting the illegal trade of sensitive U.S. technologies. Assistant Attorney General John Eisenberg emphasized the National Security Division's commitment to 'disrupting these kinds of black markets of sensitive U.S. technologies and holding accountable those who participate in this illicit trade.' None of the defendants reportedly sought or obtained the required licenses for these exports, instead allegedly lying about the intended destination of the GPUs to evade U.S. export controls.