Linda Sun, ex-aide to Gov. Hochul and Gov. Cuomo, accused of being Chinese agent

 

A former  assistant to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul was arrested Tuesday on charges she  intimately used her position to boost the Chinese government and Chinese Communist Party while making millions of bones  from her hubby’s business exporting lobsters to China.

Linda Sun, 41, and her hubby, Christopher Hu, 40, were taken into  guardianship a month- and-a-half after the FBI searched their Long Island home in late July. Sun is  indicted of  constantly taking action on behalf of Chinese  officers — doing everything from blocking state  officers from meeting with Taiwanese government representatives to fraudulently helping them  gain work visas, to  conforming messaging by Hochul and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s  services to more  nearly align with the Chinese government.

At one point in March 2020, Sun arranged for a Chinese government functionary to surreptitiously  hear to a conference call of New York state government leaders, who were agitating how to respond to the COVID- 19 epidemic and a rise in hate crimes against Asians., according to the charge. 

In return, Sun and Hu  amended themselves “ to the tune of millions of bones” after  officers with ties to the Chinese government helped Hu’s seafood company get a base in China, according to Breon Peace, the U.S. attorney for New York's Eastern District. That  plutocrat, which prosecutors say was  noway  listed on Sun’s state  exposure forms or the couple’s  levies, allegedly helped them buy a 2024 Ferrari, a$ 3.6 million home in Manhasset and a$ 1.9 million condo in Honolulu.

Prosecutors also detailed other  gratuities, including tickets to musicales and sporting events, as well as" Nanjing- style  interspersed ducks," which were prepared by the  particular cook of a Chinese government functionary and  transferred three separate times to Sun’s parents’ home.

“ Sun applied her position of influence among  directors to covertly promote( People’s Republic of China) and( Chinese Communist Party)  dockets, directly hanging  our country’s  public security, ” Peace said in a statement.

Sun faces charges ranging from visa fraud to violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act. Hu is charged with conspiring to commit  plutocrat laundering and bank fraud.

Both  contended not  shamefaced during appearances in Brooklyn civil court. Sun was released on a$ 1.5 million bond. Hu  entered a$  500,000 bond. Sun was also barred from  reaching the Chinese consulate and  charge. The Chinese delegacy in Washington did n't respond to an inquiry.

“ We've a lot of confidence in our case. A number of the allegations in the charge are  honestly  seditious, perplexing, ” Hu’s attorney Seth DuCharme said. Sun's attorney Jarrod Schaeffer said they are seeking a speedy trial.

Sun was Hochul’s deputy chief of staff in 2021 and 2022 before serving as deputy manager at the state Department of Labor.

In an interview with WNYC Tuesday  autumn, Hochul said her office fired Sun last time after discovering  substantiation of misconduct and reported her to law enforcement.

 “ I’m furious and I’m outraged and absolutely shocked at how  brazen-faced her  geste    was," Hochul told WNYC's Sean Carlson." It was a  treason of trust the trust of government, the trust of the people."

Hochul declined to specify the misconduct that was discovered but said it would come out in the course of Sun's legal case.

previous to her  places in the Hochul administration, Sun served a number of  places in the Cuomo administration, including a high- ranking post in the state’s  profitable development branch that involved organizing  transnational trade  operations, according to her LinkedIn account.

Sun’s alleged influence  crusade lasted from 2015 through 2023. The charge alleges she regularly communicated with Chinese government  officers about her  sweats to promote China’s character in the Empire State.

Her work  frequently involved  icing neither Cuomo nor Hochul’s  services  honored Taiwan as an  sanctioned country. For decades, the People’s Republic of China has not  honored the government of Taiwan and has refused to maintain politic relations with countries that do.

At times, Sun went as far as to limit contact between high- ranking state  officers and Taiwanese representatives, relaying as much to Chinese  officers. 

When the Taiwanese government bestowed  200,000 masks to New York during the COVID- 19 epidemic in April 2020, Sun allegedly assured Cuomo’s office that did n’t intimately admit the donation, and kept a Chinese functionary acquainted. At another point, she  conceded  nearly having “ a heart attack ” when a Cuomo press release appertained to Taiwan as a country which she  incontinently had removed.

“ clearly I've managed to stop all  connections between the( Taiwanese  profitable and culture office) and the state, ” Sun wrote to a Chinese functionary in 2019, according to the charge. “ I've denied all( r) equests from their office. ”

“ I know and do appreciate your help, ” the functionary responded. “( W) ith us now in the political section, you're the most important  mecca connecting us with( Cuomo) and his  platoon. ”

In early 2021, Sun arranged for Hochul, who was the  assistant governor at the time, to record a Lunar New Year communication for the Chinese consul general’s office. When Sun  transferred the functionary the  videotape — set to a  gleeful background with traditional Chinese imagery and music — she noted she blocked a speechwriter’s attempt to include a reference to Uyghur people held in state-

Sun also allegedly  transferred fraudulent assignation letters from the governor’s office to Chinese  officers, allowing them to  gain work visas to travel to the U.S.

All the while, a brace with ties to the Chinese government —  linked in the charge asco-conspirator 1 andco-conspirator 2 — helped Hu navigate  transnational hurdles to establish his seafood exporting business in China’s  landmass, according to the charge.

Hu’s business, Foodie Fisherman LLC, was looking to export lobsters to China’s Henan Province in 2016. The  backing paid off and Hu’s companies  ultimately earned millions of bones , which prosecutors say he  cleaned  into the U.S. without listing on his  levies.

As a result, Sun and Hu moved from Forest Hills, Queens to Manhasset after buying a multimillion- bone  home in an exclusive North Shore neighborhood in 2021. That same time, they also bought the condo on the 47th  bottom of a Honolulu high rise. 

 Sun did n't list the payments on her state-  commanded  exposure forms, which she has to file each time. Nor did she list any gifts  entered from Chinese government  officers,  similar as  trip and the  interspersed ducks. In 2020, she listed Hu as  entering no  further than$  150,000 from Foodie Fisherman — the loftiest  quantum she listed in any of the periodic forms.