Taiwan Indicts Eight over Smuggling 74 Nvidia AI Servers to China

Prosecutors in Taiwan indicted eight corporate managers on Monday over an illicit scheme that exported 74 advanced Nvidia artificial intelligence servers to Chinese buyers. The transactions generated more than $21.2 million in illegal proceeds through diverted shipments of Supermicro servers powered by Nvidia B300 graphics processing units.

The Keelung District Prosecutors’ Office filed charges of breach of trust and forgery against distribution and sales managers from Taiwan units of Nvidia and Supermicro Computer Inc., as well as executives at distributor Albatron Technology and local server vendor Flying Tiger Technology. Strict manufacturer rules require buyers of advanced B300 hardware to hold whitelist approval, certify end users, and undergo on-site inspections for orders larger than eight units. Flying Tiger secured whitelist status through undisclosed methods in February 2025 before faking facility checks with data center operator Chief Telecom to clear an initial order of 130 servers.

Routes through third markets

When the original buyer failed to fund the purchase, conspirators rerouted the hardware across Asia to bypass export barriers. The group moved two servers from the first order and 50 servers from a second batch of 64 units directly to Chinese buyers through Indonesia. A third batch sent eight units through Japan and Hong Kong before Taiwanese customs halted the remaining 56 units on the island.

Trading firm Long Wins and customs broker Chance See International handled logistics and false documentation to mask the destination of the cargo. In a related transaction, executives routed NT$39.16 million ($1.2 million) in Albatron assets through four bogus invoices issued by Quintai Electronics, triggering additional charges under Taiwan’s Securities and Exchange Act.

Supply chain crackdowns in Asia

The case shows how cross-border merchant networks continue to build transit routes through Southeast and East Asian hubs to feed mainland demand for restricted computing power. Washington has barred direct shipments of cutting-edge AI silicon to China since 2022, yet enterprise hardware continues to slip through regional third-party distributors that exploit weak verification loops between system builders and end facilities.

Taiwan authorities are pursuing the fugitive head of Flying Tiger Technology, who collected the $21.2 million in export revenue, while the eight indicted managers await trial dates in Keelung.