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Super Micro Computer shares fell about 27% on March 20 after US authorities charged three people tied to the company in an alleged scheme to send restricted AI servers to China.
The indictment names co-founder Yih-Shyan “Wally” Liaw, sales manager Ruei-Tsang “Steven” Chang, and contractor Ting-Wei “Willy” Sun. Federal prosecutors said the three helped divert at least $2.5 billion worth of US artificial intelligence technology, while Super Micro said it was not named as a defendant and had cooperated with investigators.
Super Micro said it placed Liaw and Chang on administrative leave and ended its relationship with Sun. The company said the conduct described in the indictment violated its policies and compliance standards. It also said it supports strict compliance with US export control laws and will continue to cooperate with the government.
The US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced the charges on March 19. Prosecutors charged Liaw, Chang, and Sun with conspiracy to violate the Export Control Reform Act, conspiracy to smuggle goods from the United States, and conspiracy to defraud the United States. The Justice Department said Liaw and Sun were arrested, while Chang remained at large at the time of the announcement.
According to the indictment, the defendants worked to divert high-performance servers assembled in the United States to buyers in China. Prosecutors said the servers contained advanced AI technology subject to US export controls. The Justice Department said the group concealed the products' actual destination and moved the equipment through intermediaries to circumvent licensing requirements.
Federal prosecutors said the servers first moved from the United States to Taiwan. From there, the products allegedly passed through a Southeast Asia-based intermediary before reaching China. The Justice Department said the defendants used the routing structure to hide the identity of Chinese end users and bypass export restrictions on advanced computing systems.
The government said the scheme generated about $2.5 billion in server sales between 2024 and 2025. Prosecutors also said more than $510 million worth of servers moved to China between late April 2025 and mid-May 2025.
Court filings allege the defendants used false shipping records, repackaged systems into unmarked boxes, and staged dummy servers during compliance checks. The Justice Department said some workers even moved serial number labels from real machines to placeholder units during inspections.
The charges center on US export controls that restrict certain advanced AI chips and server systems from reaching China without a license. The Justice Department said those rules apply to high-end computing products because of national security concerns. Prosecutors allege the defendants acted to evade those restrictions by disguising shipments and masking the final destination of the servers.
Super Micro said it learned on March 19 that the indictment had been unsealed. In its statement, the company said it had taken immediate action against the employees and contractor named by prosecutors.
The company also said it is not a defendant in the case. As of March 20, the criminal case remained focused on the three individuals charged in federal court, while the sharp drop in Super Micro shares followed the public release of the allegations.
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