A senior aide to Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York was charged on Tuesday with acting as an illegal agent of the People’s Republic of China for using her position to further the Chinese government’s interests, including by blocking Taiwanese officials’ access to the governor’s office.
The 65-page indictment detailed 10 criminal counts that included visa fraud, money laundering and other crimes, and accused the aide, Linda Sun, 40, of accepting substantial economic benefits in exchange for actions that benefited the People’s Republic of China and the Chinese Communist Party.
The accusations, if true, would represent a brazen manipulation of New York’s state government at the highest level, covering several years under the administrations of Ms. Hochul and her predecessor, Andrew M. Cuomo.
Ms. Sun and her husband, Chris Hu, 41, a businessman who is charged in the indictment with money laundering, are expected to appear before a judge later on Tuesday, the people said.
The indictment outlined several instances where Ms. Sun interceded to eliminate references to Taiwan from various state communications, or quashed potential meetings between Taiwanese officials and state leaders, including Ms. Hochul.
“No meeting please,” she wrote to an Assembly member who invited the governor to meet with the ambassador of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office. “Kindly decline. Do not want her to wade into this China/Taiwan sensitivity.”
Prosecutors also accused Ms. Sun of providing unauthorized invitation letters from the governor’s office to make it easier for Chinese government officials to travel to the United States and meet with state officials in New York.
She even arranged, without proper authorization, for Chinese government officials to receive official state proclamations, formal framed documents that bear the state seal and the governor’s signature. While these declarations hold little to no real meaning, they are held in high esteem by some foreign officials.
Among the benefits Ms. Sun received, according to the indictment, were the assistance with millions of dollars in transactions for China-based businesses tied to Mr. Hu; travel benefits; event tickets; the promotion of a close friend’s business; and employment for Ms. Sun’s cousin in China.
Ms. Sun’s parents even reaped a gastronomical benefit: a Chinese delicacy, Nanjing-style salted ducks, that were prepared by a Chinese consulate official’s personal chef and delivered to the parents’ home.
Prosecutors say Ms. Sun and Mr. Hu laundered the money they received in the scheme to buy, among other things, their $3.6 million, five-bedroom home on a cul-de-sac in Manhasset, on the North Shore of Long Island; a $1.9 million condominium in Honolulu; and luxury cars, including a 2024 Ferrari.
The indictment alleges that Ms. Sun failed to disclose any benefits she received from Chinese government or the Chinese Communist Party to the New York State government, as she was required to do under law as a government employee.
Avi Small, the press secretary for Ms. Hochul, said that the administration “terminated her employment in March 2023 after discovering evidence of misconduct.”
Mr. Small noted that Ms. Sun “was hired by the executive chamber more than a decade ago,” adding that the administration “immediately reported her actions to law enforcement and have assisted law enforcement throughout this process.”
Neither Ms. Sun nor Mr. Hu could be reached on Tuesday.
Six weeks ago, F.B.I. agents descended on the cul-de-sac in Manhasset and searched the couple’s house in an early-morning raid, though the basis for that action and the crimes they were investigating were unclear at that time. Neither could be reached for comment after the raid and they did not respond to voice mail and text messages.
Ms. Sun has worked in state government for nearly 14 years, holding a variety of positions, according to her LinkedIn profile.
She began in the legislative branch, working as chief of staff to an assemblywoman, Grace Meng, who is now a congresswoman. Ms. Sun then worked in various positions in the administrations of both Mr. Cuomo and Ms. Hochul, according to the LinkedIn profile. A spokesman for Mr. Cuomo declined to comment on Ms. Sun’s indictment.
She served in roles focused on business development; Asian American affairs; and diversity, equity and inclusion. She left Ms. Hochul’s executive chamber after roughly 15 months, moving on to a position at the New York Department of Labor in November 2022. Five months later, she left to serve as campaign manager for Austin Cheng, a Democrat who unsuccessfully ran for a congressional seat on Long Island.
But even after Ms. Sun was let go by the Labor Department in March 2023, she continued to attend public and professional Asian community events, falsely claiming to be the department’s deputy commissioner, according to the indictment. Ms. Sun apparently stopped doing so after receiving a cease-and-desist letter from the Labor Department in August 2023.
Ms. Sun’s husband, Mr. Hu, operates a liquor store in Flushing, Queens, called Leivine Wine & Spirits. Over the last decade, he also has incorporated several other businesses, including a company he created in 2020 during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic called Medical Supplies USA. He also created two other businesses, Golden Capital Group in 2016 and LCA Holdings in 2023, the nature of which could not be determined.
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