US Charges 3 Super Micro-Linked in $2.5B Server Smuggling

United States prosecutors in the Southern District of New York charged three individuals linked to Super Micro Computer Inc. in March 2026 with conspiring to smuggle restricted Nvidia AI servers worth $2.5 billion into China via Thailand, marking the largest such case since export controls took effect in 2022.

The indictment names Yih-Shyan Wally Liaw, Super Micro's co-founder; Ruei-Tsang Steven Chang, a Taiwan-based sales manager; and Ting-Wei Willy Sun, an external consultant. Prosecutors allege the trio worked with an unnamed Southeast Asian intermediary, identified in reports as Bangkok-based OBON Corp., and other brokers to route servers through Taiwan and Thailand. The shipments were repackaged in unlabeled boxes with falsified paperwork and swapped serial numbers to evade inspections, according to the charges. At least $500 million in servers reached Chinese end-users, including Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., though neither OBON nor Alibaba faces charges.

The scheme surfaced through investigations by the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security, which imposed a shipping hold on OBON after Super Micro audits flagged unusual activity in 2024. Trade data shows...