Linda Sun, a former deputy chief of staff to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, was arrested on federal charges of conspiring to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act, visa fraud, alien smuggling and money laundering, according to her indictment released Tuesday.
Her husband, Chris Hu, was also charged with money laundering conspiracy, conspiracy to commit bank fraud and misuse of means of identification.
“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,” United States Attorney Breon Peace said in the indictment. Peace went onto to allege that “the illicit scheme,” Hu and Sun engaged in, “enriched the defendant’s family to the tune of millions of dollars.”
FBI Acting Assistant Director Christie M. Curtis added that “Sun wielded her position of influence among executives to covertly promote PRC and CCP agendas.”
Through her position, Sun allegedly engaged in “blocking representatives of the Taiwanese government from having access to high-level New York State officers; changing high-level New York State officers’ messaging regarding issues of importance to the PRC and the CCP; obtaining official New York State proclamations for PRC government representatives without proper authorization; attempting to facilitate a trip to the PRC by a high-level New York State politician; and arranging meetings for visiting delegations from the PRC government with New York State government officials.”
The FBI further alleges, as a kickback for her actions, Sun and Hu received “millions of dollars in transactions… from representatives of the PRC government and the CCP,” which were used to purchase their $4.1 million Manhasset home, a $2.1 million Hawaiian condo, “various luxury automobiles, including a 2024 Ferrari” and more, according to the indictment.
“Sun never disclosed any benefits she received from representatives of the PRC government and the CCP to the New York State government, as she was required to do as a New York State government employee,” the indictment added.
FBI agents detained the couple, at their home in Manhasset on the North Shore of Long Island on Tuesday morning, according to the New York Times, and later confirmed by their indictments.
The Daily Beast reached out to the Chinese consulate in New York for comment but has yet to receive any at the time of publishing.
Federal agents searched the couple’s five-bedroom home in July. At the time, the FBI confirmed only that its agents “conducted court-authorized law enforcement activity in Manhasset” without further elaborating, according to Newsday.
Sun and Hu are expected to appear in federal court on Tuesday afternoon.
“This individual was hired by the Executive Chamber more than a decade ago,” a spokesperson for Gov. Hochul told The Daily Beast. “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.”
According to her LinkedIn profile, Sun held various roles in state government for nearly 14 years.
She first worked as the chief of staff to Grace Meng, a former assemblywoman who is now a member of congress. Sun then went on to have several jobs in the administrations of Hochul and her predecessor, Andrew Cuomo.
Sun was hired as a deputy chief of staff when Hochul took over from Cuomo in 2021, according to Newsday, before she left the role in September 2022 for a position in the New York Department of Labor. She was terminated from the department the following year.
She later worked as a campaign manager for Austin Cheng, a Democrat who unsuccessfully ran for Congress in New York’s third district.
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