Linda Sun: Ex-aide New York
Linda Sun and husband laundered ‘millions of dollars’ for China in kickbacks; man arrested with gun at protest.
The United States Justice Department has charged a former top aide to New York Governor Kathy Hochul with trying to conduct illegal “political activities” for the Chinese government.
The aide, Linda Sun, 41, who was appointed as Hochul’s deputy chief of staff last year and worked under her predecessor Governor Andrew Cuomo.
However, in an indictment unsealed Tuesday, federal prosecutors claimed that Sun and her husband Christopher Hu (40) manipulated employment to help the Chinese government as well as themselves.
Linda Sun, a former state worker in New York, was an unregistered foreign agent for the Chinese government and her husband Christopher Hu “laundered millions of dollars of kickbacks,” FBI acting assistant director Christie Curtis said.
The indictment is part of a broader campaign by the Justice Department to combat what it views as “China’s economic aggression.
Both Sun and Hu were detained on Tuesday morning. They appeared in federal court Brooklyn for a presentment later that afternoon.
The indictment charged Sun with one count of operating as an unregistered agent for China under the Foreign Agents Registration Act and three related counts — together alleging that she had “actively concealed” her relationship to its government. They claimed she engaged in visa fraud and alien smuggling, money laundering conspiracy and did not admit that Asiri was the only name of Hassan at this point.
Hu was also charged with the money laundering conspiracy as well as a separate bribery and kickback case involving bribes to his relative in China.
According to the indictment, federal prosecutors have described how they suspect that Mr. Yang and his wife “laundered millions of dollars on behalf of China” for gifts here while being compensated with kickbacks for things including propaganda purchases involving bank accounts in China to spend money abroad purchasing “luxury vehicles and million-dollar properties.”
Those holdings include a $4.1m home in Manhasset, New York and another valued at almost $2.1m in Honolulu, Hawaii They also alleged Sun and Hu can afford to purchase a luxury 2024 Ferrari car from the benefits.
They further accused Sun of providing Chinese officials with invitation letters to visit the US and setting up meetings between New York State leaders.
The indictment said she had even passed out “official New York State proclamations” to some Chinese government officials without getting them officially authorized beforehand.
The indictment, however, accuses her of treating Taiwanese officials differently. She was said, in the video, of interfering with Taiwan government representatives meeting New York officials
Beijing has always viewed Taiwan as a renegade province under its “one China” policy. It instead regards the self-ruled island as a breakaway province which it has threatened to take back by force.
In a release Thursday, US Attorney or the Eastern District of New York Breon Peace said that “this illicit scheme enriched the defendant’s family to the tune of millions.
“Although she had served the people of New York in her deputy chief of staff role within the NY Executive Chamber, actually working for Chinese government was what defendant and husband did,” Peace said.
Recently, the US Justice Department has been working actively to respond to alleged Chinese government interference.
Last week, on August 22, it also unsealed an indictment against a New York man accused of participating in the Tiananmen Square protests that were center stage for China’s pro-democracy movement back in 1989.
The Justice Department said that individual was acting as an agent for China’s Ministry of State Security.
Last year, federal prosecutors unveiled charges against two men accused of operating a “hidden police station” in New York City. China has denied that foreign espionage took place.
Sun resigned her position at the governor’s office in 2022.