Three Company Heads Detained in Taiwan for Illegally Selling High-End NVIDIA Chip Servers to Hong Kong

(CNA, Keelung, Reporter Wang Chao-yu, May 21) Three company heads, including a man surnamed Yu, are suspected of using false declaration documents to resell dozens of Supermicro servers equipped with high-end NVIDIA chips, with some servers already transported to Hong Kong via a third country. The Keelung District Prosecutors Office's request to detain and hold Yu and the other two suspects incommunicado has been approved by the court. Yu and the other two men, knowing that high-end AI servers produced by Supermicro, which carry specific high-end NVIDIA chips, are strictly regulated by the United States and completely banned from sale to China, Hong Kong, and Macau, still intended to profit by using false documents to declare exports for resale to these regions. It is reported that the three men, surnamed Yu, Wang, and Chen, who are either company heads or de facto persons in charge, conspired to purchase dozens of servers in Taiwan, each with a market value exceeding NT$10 million. They declared the servers for export by sea from a port in northern Taiwan, but altered information such as the server model numbers in the declaration documents and listed the destination as a country in Northeast Asia, while ultimately shipping the servers to Hong Kong. Two of the companies to which the three defendants belong are involved in the case. Among the sellers who contacted the defendants, many have identities from China, Hong Kong, or Macau. Furthermore, intelligence indicates that nearly 10 Supermicro servers equipped with specific high-end NVIDIA chips have already been delivered to Hong Kong via a third location. Whether the servers were ultimately transshipped to mainland China is pending further investigation by the prosecution. Yesterday, Prosecutor Hsiao Yung-li of the Keelung District Prosecutors Office directed the Keelung Investigation Team of the Coast Guard Administration to search 12 locations, including the residences of the three men and related companies, and seize evidence. Yu and the other two men, along with related witnesses, were also arrested and questioned. After an overnight interrogation by the prosecutor, a request was filed with the Keelung District Court to detain and hold Yu, Wang, and Chen incommunicado. After a hearing at 1:30 PM, the judge determined that the three men were suspected of committing offenses such as using altered private documents and causing a public official to make false entries in official documents. Furthermore, there was sufficient evidence to believe they posed a flight risk and could destroy evidence or collude with co-conspirators and witnesses. The court thus ruled to detain them and hold them incommunicado. (Editor: Lin Shu-hui) 1150521