Two U.S. citizens and two nationals of the People’s Republic of China (PRC)-all residing in the United States-have been charged with a conspiracy to illegally export cutting-edge NVIDIA Graphics Processing Units (GPUs), which have artificial intelligence (AI) applications, to the PRC, announced Assistant Attorney General John A. Eisenberg for the Justice Department’s National Security Division and U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe for the Middle District of Florida.
Those arrested include Hon Ning Ho, aka “Mathew Ho,” a U.S. citizen born in Hong Kong, 34, residing in Tampa, Florida; Brian Curtis Raymond, U.S. citizen, 46, Huntsville, Alabama; Cham Li, aka “Tony Li,” PRC national, 38, San Leandro, California, and Jing Chen, aka “Harry Chen,” PRC national on F-1 nonimmigrant student visa, 45, Tampa, Florida. On Wednesday, November 19, 2025, Ho and Chen were arrested and appeared in court in the Middle District of Florida, while Raymond was arrested and appeared in the Northern District of Alabama. Li was also arrested yesterday and is scheduled to appear today in the Northern District of California.
“The indictment unsealed yesterday alleges a deliberate and deceptive effort to transship controlled NVIDIA GPUs to China by falsifying paperwork, creating fake contracts, and misleading U.S. authorities,” said John A. Eisenberg, Assistant Attorney General for National Security. “The National Security Division is committed to disrupting these kinds of black markets of sensitive U.S. technologies and holding accountable those who participate in this illicit trade.”
“As demonstrated by this indictment, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida is firmly committed to safeguarding our country’s national security,” said U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe for the Middle District of Florida. “Thanks to the dedicated investigative work by our law enforcement partners, these defendants who wrongfully exported this sensitive technology are facing justice.”
According to the indictment, the PRC seeks to become the world leader in AI by 2030 and seeks to use AI for its military modernization efforts and in connection with the design and testing of weapons of mass destruction and deployment of advanced AI surveillance tools. The PRC seeks cutting-edge U.S. technology in furtherance of that goal, including NVIDIA GPUs. To protect U.S. national security, beginning in October 2022, the Department of Commerce implemented new license requirements for the export of these technologies to the PRC.
As alleged, from September 2023 to November 2025, Ho, Raymond, Li, and Chen conspired to violate these critical U.S. export controls, by illegally exporting advanced GPUs to the PRC through Malaysia and Thailand. In furtherance of the conspiracy, the conspirators used Janford Realtor, LLC-a Tampa, Florida-based company owned and controlled by Ho and Li-as a front to purchase and then illegally export controlled GPUs to the PRC. Despite its name, Janford Realtor, LLC, was never involved in any real estate transactions. Raymond, though his Alabama-based electronics company, supplied NVIDIA GPUs to Ho and others for illegal export to the PRC as part of the conspiracy.
As further alleged in the indictment, the conspiracy encompassed four separate exports of NVIDIA GPUs to the PRC. The first and second exports resulted in 400 NVIDIA A100 GPUs being exported to the PRC between October 2024 and January 2025. The third and fourth exports to the PRC were disrupted by law enforcement and therefore not completed. These attempted exports related to ten Hewlett Packard Enterprises supercomputers containing NVIDIA H100 GPUs and 50 separate NVIDIA H200 GPUs.
Despite knowing that licenses were required to export these items to the PRC, none of the conspirators ever sought or obtained a license for any of these exports. Instead, they lied about the intended destination of the GPUs to evade U.S. export controls. The indictment further alleges that the conspirators received over $3.89 million in wire transfers from the PRC to fund this unlawful scheme.
As set forth in the indictment, the United States will also seek forfeiture of 50 NVIDIA H200 GPUs, which are property constituting an item or technology that was intended to be exported unlawfully.
The chart below summarizes the charges against each defendant:
| Name and Nationality | Age and Residence | Charges | Max. Term of Imprisonment |
| Hon Ning Ho, aka “Mathew Ho,” U.S. citizen born in Hong Kong | 34, Tampa, FL | Conspiracy to violate Export Control Reform Act (ECRA), ECRA violations (4 counts), smuggling (3 counts), conspiracy to commit money laundering, and money laundering (9 counts) | 20 years per ECRA violation; 10 years per smuggling count; and 20 years per money laundering count |
| Brian Curtis Raymond, U.S. citizen | 46, Huntsville, AL | Conspiracy to violate Export Control Reform Act (ECRA), ECRA violations (2 counts), smuggling (1 count), conspiracy to commit money laundering, and money laundering (7 counts) | 20 years per ECRA violation; 10 years per smuggling count; and 20 years per money laundering count |
| Cham Li, aka “Tony Li,” PRC national | 38, San Leandro, CA | Conspiracy to violate Export Control Reform Act (ECRA), ECRA violations (1 count), smuggling (1 count), and conspiracy to commit money laundering | 20 years per ECRA violation; 10 years per smuggling count; and 20 years per money laundering count |
| Jing Chen, aka “Harry Chen,” PRC national on F-1 nonimmigrant student visa | 45, Tampa, FL | Conspiracy to violate Export Control Reform Act (ECRA), ECRA violations (1 count), smuggling (1 count), and conspiracy to commit money laundering | 20 years per ECRA violation; 10 years per smuggling count; and 20 years per money laundering count |
This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, and the Department of Commerce – Bureau of Industry and Security. It will be prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joseph K. Ruddy and Lindsey N. Schmidt of the Middle District of Florida and Trial Attorney Menno Goedman of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.
An indictment is merely an allegation and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty in a court of law.