Two Chinese men have been detained in the United States on suspicion of smuggling Nvidia H100 and H200 chips to China.

The US Department of Justice announced on Monday (December 8th) that prosecutors have charged Chinese citizen Gong Fanyue (43 years old) and Chinese Canadian citizen Yuan Benlin (58 years old), who reside in New York, with conspiring with employees of a logistics company based in Hong Kong and a Chinese artificial intelligence technology company, respectively, in an attempt to circumvent US export controls.

According to court documents, Gong Fanyue and her accomplices obtained Nvidia chips through agents and intermediaries, claiming that these goods were provided to American customers or to customers in third countries and regions such as Taiwan and Thailand. They transported these chips to multiple warehouses in the United States and replaced Nvidia labels with fake company labels before preparing for export.

In another indictment, the prosecution alleges that Yuan Benlin assisted in recruiting and organizing personnel to inspect chips with incorrect labels for a Hong Kong logistics company. The prosecutor said that Yuan Benlin is suspected of instructing inspectors not to disclose that the destination of the goods is China, and discussing with them to fabricate a set of excuses, in order to use these excuses to fight for the retrieval of chips and other equipment once they are seized by federal authorities. The prosecutor estimates that this plan will begin at least from November 2023.

In addition, the Department of Justice stated that a man named Xu Hao (43 years old) and his Houston based company admitted to participating in smuggling and illegal export activities under this program in October of this year. The authorities stated that he and his company received over $50 million (approximately SGD 65 million) in wire transfers from China, used the money for smuggling activities, and attempted to export Nvidia chips worth at least $160 million.

Regarding the relevant case, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington stated that the Chinese government requires overseas Chinese citizens to strictly abide by local laws and regulations, and will protect the legitimate rights and interests of overseas Chinese citizens in accordance with the law. (Name transliteration)

Two Chinese men have been detained in the United States on suspicion of smuggling Nvidia H100 and H200 chips to China.

The US Department of Justice announced on Monday (December 8th) that prosecutors have charged Chinese citizen Gong Fanyue (43 years old) and Chinese Canadian citizen Yuan Benlin (58 years old), who reside in New York, with conspiring with employees of a logistics company based in Hong Kong and a Chinese artificial intelligence technology company, respectively, in an attempt to circumvent US export controls.

According to court documents, Gong Fanyue and her accomplices obtained Nvidia chips through agents and intermediaries, claiming that these goods were provided to American customers or to customers in third countries and regions such as Taiwan and Thailand. They transported these chips to multiple warehouses in the United States and replaced Nvidia labels with fake company labels before preparing for export.

In another indictment, the prosecution alleges that Yuan Benlin assisted in recruiting and organizing personnel to inspect chips with incorrect labels for a Hong Kong logistics company. The prosecutor said that Yuan Benlin is suspected of instructing inspectors not to disclose that the destination of the goods is China, and discussing with them to fabricate a set of excuses, in order to use these excuses to fight for the retrieval of chips and other equipment once they are seized by federal authorities. The prosecutor estimates that this plan will begin at least from November 2023.

In addition, the Department of Justice stated that a man named Xu Hao (43 years old) and his Houston based company admitted to participating in smuggling and illegal export activities under this program in October of this year. The authorities stated that he and his company received over $50 million (approximately SGD 65 million) in wire transfers from China, used the money for smuggling activities, and attempted to export Nvidia chips worth at least $160 million.

Regarding the relevant case, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington stated that the Chinese government requires overseas Chinese citizens to strictly abide by local laws and regulations, and will protect the legitimate rights and interests of overseas Chinese citizens in accordance with the law. (Name transliteration)