According to Bloomberg, Yih-Shyan “Wally” Liaw, co-founder of Super Micro Computer Inc., appeared in court in Manhattan, New York, on Wednesday and formally entered a not guilty plea in connection with his alleged role in helping illegally transfer billions of dollars worth of servers equipped with high-end chips from NVIDIA Corp. to China.
According to the indictment of the U.S. federal prosecutors, Liao Yixian was accused of participating in a plan to circumvent U.S. export controls. Servers assembled in the United States and equipped with NVIDIA's cutting-edge chips were sold and shipped to Chinese customers through improper channels, suspected of violating U.S. export restrictions on China. The case is regarded as one of the most high-profile U.S. law enforcement actions against suspected smuggling of restricted artificial intelligence technology into China.
The US alleges that Liao Yixian and two other individuals related to Super Micro Computer first sold relevant hardware to an unnamed Southeast Asian "transit company", and then the company coordinated the transfer of the equipment to real end customers in China. Also indicted in the same case are Ruei-Tsang “Steven” Chang, who once served as general manager of Super Micro Computer’s Taiwan office, and Ting-Wei “Willy” Sun, an external contractor who the US said was responsible for “management” and assisting in the transfer of goods.
Reports pointed out that Sun Tingwei, wearing a bright yellow prison uniform that day, also expressed not guilty in front of U.S. Federal District Court Judge Edgardo Ramos. Sun's defense lawyer told the judge that he was negotiating with prosecutors to develop a bail plan for his client. Currently, Liao Yixian is out on bail of US$5 million, while Zhang Ruicang has not yet been detained.
On March 19 this year, after the relevant smuggling accusations were first disclosed to the public, Super Micro Computer's stock price fell sharply, and the company's market value evaporated by more than 6 billion US dollars in a short period of time. Subsequently, Liao Yixian resigned from the company's board of directors, further intensifying the market's focus on corporate governance and regulatory risks.
Judge Ramos has set a trial date for this case on November 2. The case number is "US v. Liaw, 26-cr-00100" and is heard by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (Manhattan).