Super Micro Computer Stock Drops 28% After Smuggling Indictment
Super Micro Computer's co-founder Yih-Shyan "Wally" Liaw resigned from the board after federal prosecutors indicted him on charges of smuggling servers containing Nvidia AI chips into China. The company's stock fell 33% in regular trading after the indictment was unsealed.
Liaw, who served as senior vice president of business development, was named alongside sales manager Ruei-Tsan "Steven" Chang and contractor Ting-Wei "Willy" Sun. Super Micro placed both Liaw and Chang on administrative leave and ended its relationship with Sun.
How the Scheme Operated
According to the indictment, a Southeast Asian company acted as a middleman, creating fake paperwork to conceal the servers' true destination. A separate logistics firm repackaged the equipment before it reached China.
The defendants used "dummy" servers at the Southeast Asian storage facility while the actual servers had already been shipped to China. They pressed Super Micro's compliance team to approve shipments and deployed dummy equipment during a visit from a U.S. export control officer.
Between late April 2025 and mid-May 2025 alone, servers worth $510 million went to the Southeast Asian company and then to China. The indictment estimates the scheme generated approximately $2.5 billion in sales for Super Micro since 2024.
Super Micro had no U.S. Commerce Department license to export servers with Nvidia GPUs to China, according to the indictment.
Internal Response
Super Micro appointed DeAnna Luna, who joined from Intel in 2024, as acting chief compliance officer. Luna previously served as vice president of global trade and sanctions compliance.
The company said its board now comprises eight directors with no changes to committee structure.
Court Status
Liaw appeared in the Northern District of California on Thursday and was released on an unsecured bond. A bond hearing is scheduled.
Sun's detention hearing is scheduled for Monday afternoon.
Your membership also unlocks:
