Authorities arrested and charged New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s former top aide, Linda Sun, and her husband for working as undisclosed agents for China.
Sun also served in former NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration.
Sun worked for the New York State government between 2012 and 2023. Her husband, Chris Hu, had many businesses, including seafood exporting and financial consultancy in Queens.
The government claimed:
Acting at the request of PRC government officials and CCP representatives, SUN engaged in numerous political activities in the interests of the PRC and the CCP, including blocking representatives of the Taiwanese government from having access to the NYS governor’s office; changing Politician-1 and Politician-2’s messaging regarding issues of importance to the PRC and the CCP; obtaining official NYS governor proclamations for PRC government representatives without proper authorization; attempting to facilitate a trip to the PRC by Politician-2; and arranging meetings for visiting delegations from the PRC government with NYS government officials.Additionally, the defendant LINDA SUN repeatedly violated internal rules and protocols within the NYS governor’s office to provide improper benefits to PRC and CCP representatives, including by providing unauthorized invitation letters from the office of the NYS governor that were used to facilitate travel by PRC government officials into the United States for meetings with NYS government officials. SUN’s unauthorized invitation letters for the PRC government delegation constituted false statements made in connection with immigration documents and induced the foreign citizens into unlawfully entering the United States.
In 2020, Sun used her position in Cuomo’s administration to connect PRC Consular officials with him.
Sun supposedly invited officials to government conference calls about COVID-19 responses but kept them off the guest list since none of them were open to the public. They had to keep their phones on mute.
Sun also got Politician-1 (who is probably Cuomo) to accept ventilators from Chinese foundations. The PRC officials pushed Sun to force the politician to privately and publicly thank the Chinese government and the PRC official responsible for the transactions.
In January 2021, one of the PRC officials told Sun to persuade Politician 2 (likely Hochul) to make a video about the Lunar New Year. Sun asked for the talking points and themes, which she handed to Hochul’s speechwriter.
The speechwriter wanted to include the Uyghur concentration camps in China, but Sun immediately struck them. The two ended up arguing over the talking point.
Hochul ended up not mentioning the Uyghur concentration camps in her video and speech.
The government accused Hu of laundering “unlawful proceeds through bank accounts opened in the name of a close relative but that were actually for HU’s exclusive use.” He had to open these accounts using “an image of the relative’s driver’s license.”
“As alleged, while appearing to serve the people of New York as Deputy Chief of Staff within the New York State Executive Chamber, the defendant and her husband actually worked to further the interests of the Chinese government and the CCP,” stated United States Attorney Breon Peace. “The illicit scheme enriched the defendant’s family to the tune of millions of dollars. Our Office will act decisively to prosecute those who serve as undisclosed agents of a foreign government.”
The government also claimed that Sun and her husband received many benefits from China for her actions:
In return for these and other actions, the defendant LINDA SUN received substantial economic and other benefits from representatives of the PRC government and the CCP, including the facilitation of millions of dollars in transactions for the PRC-based business activities of SUN’s husband, the defendant CHRIS HU; travel benefits; tickets to events; promotion of a close family friend’s business; employment for SUN’s cousin in the PRC; and Nanjing-style salted ducks prepared by PRC Official-1’s personal chef that were delivered to the residence of SUN’s parents. SUN and HU laundered the monetary proceeds of this scheme to purchase, among other items, real estate property in Manhasset, New York for $3.6 million, a condominium in Honolulu, Hawaii for $1.9 million, and various luxury automobiles, including a 2024 Ferrari. SUN never disclosed any benefits she received from representatives of the PRC government and the CCP to the NYS government, as she was required to do as a NYS government employee.
Sun never registered as a foreign agent and took steps to conceal her activities, according to the indictment.
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