Tampa men charged with smuggling Nvidia chips to China
20 hours ago
- #national-security
- #export-controls
- #money-laundering
- Two Tampa men, Hon Ning Ho (34) and Jing Chen (45), were indicted for smuggling NVIDIA computer chips to China and money laundering.
- They used a fake company, Janford Realtor LLC, to bypass export controls and sent chips via third countries like Thailand and Malaysia.
- The group allegedly smuggled around 400 chips to China in three months, with two subsequent attempts intercepted by law enforcement.
- Chinese companies sent over $2 million to Janford Realtor and nearly $1.9 million to an unnamed Alabama tech company involved in the scheme.
- The U.S. Attorney’s Office stated the chips could be used for weapons of mass destruction and AI development, violating U.S. national security laws.
- Ho, Chen, and their associates face charges including smuggling, violating export controls, and money laundering.