Former New York governor’s aide accused of acting as ‘undisclosed’ agent for China

A former top aide to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul was charged Tuesday with acting as an undisclosed agent for the Chinese government.

Linda Sun, Hochul’s former deputy chief of staff, was charged with failing to register as a foreign agent, visa fraud, alien smuggling and money laundering conspiracy, federal prosecutors said in a statement released Tuesday.

Sun was hired by the New York State Executive Chamber more than 10 years ago and was fired in March 2023 when her alleged illegal activities were discovered. She held positions in several agencies during that time.

Sun is alleged to have acted on behalf of the government of the People’s Republic of China and the Chinese Communist Party while working for the New York state government.

Sun “never registered as a foreign agent,” federal prosecutors said, and “actively concealed that he took actions at the order, request, or direction of the government of the People’s Republic of China and CCP representatives.”

Sun and her husband, co-defendant Chris Hu, were arrested at their Long Island home on Tuesday before pleading not guilty during their appearance in Brooklyn federal court in the afternoon.

Hu faces charges of money laundering as well as conspiracy to commit bank fraud and misuse of identification means.

U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said that while Sun worked for Hochul as deputy chief of staff, she and her husband “actually worked to advance the interests of the Chinese government and the CCP.”

“The unlawful scheme enriched the defendant’s family by millions of dollars,” Peace said.

While allegedly working for both the New York state government and China, Sun was successful in preventing Taiwanese government officials from gaining access to high-level New York officials.

Sun is also reported to have changed the message of high-level New York State officials on issues of importance to the PRC and the CCP. He also allegedly obtained official New York State proclamations for PRC government officials without proper authorization.

Other charges against Sun include attempting to facilitate a high-level New York state politician’s travel to China and arranging meetings for Chinese government delegations visiting China with New York state government officials.

Sun and Hu received significant financial rewards for working for China, including facilitating millions of dollars in transactions for Hu’s China-based business activities, travel benefits, promotion of a close family friend’s company and employment for Sun’s cousin in China. Prosecutors said the benefits also included Nanjing-style salted ducks prepared by a Chinese government official’s personal chef that were delivered to Sun’s parents.

Sun and her husband “laundered millions of dollars into the foreign country and used the monetary proceeds from this scheme to purchase luxury vehicles and multimillion-dollar properties here in New York,” said Thomas M. Fattorusso, special agent in charge of criminal investigations for the Internal Revenue Service in New York.

With the laundered money, the couple purchased a $4.1 million home on Long Island, a $2.1 million condo in Honolulu, Hawaii, and several expensive cars, including a 2024 Ferrari.

Sun never reported any of the benefits she received from China, as she is required to do as an employee of the New York state government.

Meanwhile, Hu illegally laundered money through bank accounts he opened in a relative’s name but that were for Hu’s exclusive use, prosecutors said. In addition, Hu illegally used an image of the relative’s driver’s license to open the accounts.

[Parte de la información para este informe fue proporcionada por The Associated Press]

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