Former aide to New York governor charged with acting as an agent of the Chinese government
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(CNN) — A former aide to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul was charged with acting as an agent for the Chinese government, US Attorney Breon Peace announced Tuesday.
Linda Sun, a former deputy chief of staff to Hochul, was charged with violating and conspiring to violate the Foreign Agents Registrations Act, visa fraud, alien smuggling and money laundering conspiracy, according to an unsealed copy of the indictment.
Her husband and co-defendant, Chris Hu, was also charged with money laundering conspiracy and conspiracy to commit bank fraud as well as misusing means of identification, prosecutors said.
Their home was raided by federal investigators in July, according to sources.
According to prosecutors, Sun acted as “an undisclosed agent of the Chinese government while her husband, Hu, facilitated the transfer of millions of dollars in kickbacks for personal gain.”
Sun and Hu were arrested at their Long Island residence Tuesday morning. The couple is set to appear in court Tuesday afternoon, the US Attorney’s office said. CNN has reached out to attorneys representing Sun and Hu.
Sun “was hired by the Executive Chamber more than a decade ago. We terminated her employment in March 2023 after discovering evidence of misconduct, immediately reported her actions to law enforcement and have assisted law enforcement throughout this process,” Hochul’s press secretary, Avi Small, said in a statement to CNN.
Allegations of unauthorized letters, money laundering, and salted ducks from the PRC
Sun violated internal rules and state government protocols in order to benefit the Chinese government, according to court documents.
Among Sun’s activities, prosecutors say, she acted as an undisclosed agent of the People’s Republic of China and the Chinese Communist Party, acting at their request and engaging in political activities to further the interests of the CCP, including “blocking representatives of the Taiwanese government from having access to high level New York State officers.”
The indictment details an effort by Sun to secure “unauthorized invitation letters” from the office of the governor which were then used to facilitate travel by PRC government officials into the United States for meetings with state officials in New York.
Sun’s unauthorized letters included false statements about immigration documents and “induced the foreign citizens into unlawfully entering the United States,” prosecutors wrote.
Prosecutors also allege she tried to “facilitate a trip” to China by a high-level, unnamed New York politician.
Sun and her husband received “substantial economic and other benefits” which included millions of dollars in transactions for PRC business activities of Hu, travel benefits, tickets to events, employment for Sun’s cousin in the PRC, a delivery of “Nanjing-style salted ducks prepared by a PRC official’s personal chef” that were then delivered to the residence of Sun’s parents, among others, according to the indictment.
They also laundered the monetary proceeds to buy real estate in New York and Hawaii and various luxury vehicles, according to the indictment.
Aide worked in New York government for over a decade
Sun has held several government titles for more than a decade. Public employment records and her Linkedin profile show positions spanned across several agencies focused on New York’s economic development, labor and the executive chamber.
In 2009, Sun was hired as chief of staff in Rep. Grace Meng’s office when Meng was in the State Assembly. In 2012, Sun was hired by the administration of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who named her director of Asian American affairs and Queens representative. Sun then went on to secure a post as director of external affairs for Empire State Development, which handles economic development across the state.
In 2018 she was re-hired by the Cuomo administration and named chief diversity officer; she later left that post for a job in the Department of Financial Services.
After Hochul had ascended to the top office in the state, Sun was hired as deputy chief of staff, serving for about a year before heading for a post as deputy commissioner for strategic business at the Department of Labor, which terminated her employment in March 2023.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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