CV NEWS FEED // Authorities on Tuesday morning arrested Linda Sun and her husband Christopher Hu. Sun had served as an aide to current New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and her predecessor former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, both Democrats.
The Associated Press (AP) reported Tuesday afternoon that an indictment by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) charged the former Hochul and Cuomo aide “with acting as an undisclosed agent of the Chinese government.”
Sun had previously worked in a variety of roles in the New York state government, including as Hochul’s deputy chief of staff, and for the New York Department of Labor.
U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Breon Peace stated via the indictment:
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 [Chinese Communist Party].
The illicit scheme enriched the defendant’s family to the tune of millions of dollars. Our Office will act decisively to prosecute those who serve as undisclosed agents of a foreign government.
FBI New York Acting Assistant Director Christie Curtis stated that Sun and Hu “facilitated the transfer of millions of dollars in kickbacks for personal gain.”
“Sun wielded her position of influence among executives to covertly promote PRC [People’s Republic of China] and CCP agendas, directly threatening our country’s national security,” Curtis added.
The New York Post noted that Sun’s and Hu’s arrests were “part of a corruption probe unrelated to the governor,” according to law enforcement.
In July, the FBI raided a “$3.5 million home in Manhasset belonging to Sun and Hu,” the Post added:
Hu owned and ran a liquor store in Flushing, Queens, as well as several other business ventures, including an LLC involved in medical equipment that popped up around the pandemic.
Sources say Sun has close ties to Queens Democrats, especially Asian-American lawmakers. She was an ally and high-ranking staffer to then Assemblywoman Grace Meng (D-NY) before Meng was elected to the US House of Representatives.
This is not the first time in the last year that the FBI raided the residence of someone once close to a top New York Democrat following allegations of corruption.
CatholicVote reported in November 2023 that the FBI and the New York Police Department (NYPD) “raided the home of a major Democratic fundraiser close to New York City Mayor Eric Adams.”
The New York Post stated at the time that the raid on the fundraiser’s home was “connected to a broader public corruption probe by the feds looking into whether money was illegally funneled to Adams’ 2021 mayoral campaign via a Williamsburg-based construction company.”
