Again, why isn’t this a bigger story? I promised to cover the trial details as they come out.
The jury at the trial of Linda Sun, a former top aide to New York Govs. Kathy Hochul and Andrew Cuomo saw pictures and details of her lavish lifestyle, which she supposedly funded with money from China.
Prosecutors have accused Sun of working as a Chinese agent in exchange for lots of money.
Sun’s husband, Chris Hu, also faces charges.
Sun only made $145,000.
Despite that salary, Sun and Hu lived in a $3.6 million mansion in Long Island.
That’s where the FBI investigated for five hours. FBI Special Agent Edward Tam told the jury all about it!
Sun and Hu had a 2024 Ferrari Roma and a 2022 Mercedes GLB SUV.
A top range Roma costs $277,970. A starting sticker price is $243,360.
The Mercedes starts at $38,600, but a top model costs $49,950.
Authorities also seized a Hermes Birkin bag. Courthouse News Service reported that “the FBI found boxes of orange Hermes handbag boxes.”
I am a luxury purse snob. My prized possession is a Lady Dior bag, which costs thousands of dollars. It took me three years to save up for it. I saved up the money I’d pay for a carton of cigarettes when I quit and rewarded myself!
A brand new Birkin purse can cost around $12,000. That’s, for the lack of a better word, a basic Birkin bag. The exclusive and rare ones can cost over $20,000.
Those bags also cost a ton because Hermes limits the supply. Supply and demand, baby.
Also, it isn’t easy to buy a Birkin bag. You cannot just go into a Hermes store and buy one. You have to build a relationship with Hermes. It can take years.
It’s ridiculous. Even for me, I have no desire to own a Birkin. Besides, the Hermes Kelly bag is way better.
Anyway, my point is that not just anyone can own a Birkin bag. If they found more than one handbag box, then just how many did she own? Sure, the Birkin and Kelly are hard to obtain, but other models aren’t easy to get either.
Then there’s the Patek Philippe watch they found in the house.
A Patek Philippe watch can cost over $130,000! The rare and exclusive pieces can cost over $1 million.
Some of the seized items had more of a personal touch. Tam recalled finding an invitation for a Lunar New Year celebration addressed to “the Honorable Linda Sun.” His team also seized a letter from the Chinese consulate in New York to Sun, which read: “Your personal friendship and kind support will always be cherished.”Tam noted on cross-examination that investigators were instructed to “take documents related to the People’s Republic of China” at Sun’s house, which resulted in the FBI scooping up what appeared to be a Chinese New Year advertisement from the American Dream mall in New Jersey.
Oh, the agents also found $130,000 in a security deposit box in Queens.
Tam said the FBI also raided Sun’s parents’ New York City home, too. They took a silver Rolex watch her dad was wearing at the time.
The agents discovered a pearl necklace “in the same box as a business card of a Chinese trade representative.”
WEIRD.
The other day, the prosecutors showed evidence of Sun allegedly forging Hochul’s signature on invitations for dignitaries from Henan, a province in China..
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