By Jonathan Dienst is chief justice contributor for NBC News and chief investigative reporter for WNBC-TV in New York.
The arrests of Linda Sun and her husband, Chris Hu, come six weeks after FBI agents searched the couple’s $3.5 million home on Long Island.
A former top aide to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul was arrested Tuesday on federal charges of acting as a secret agent of the Chinese government, authorities said.
Linda Sun, 41, is accused of using her high-ranking positions in state government to serve the interests of the Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party in exchange for millions of dollars. Her husband, Chris Hu, 40, was also arrested in the alleged scheme.
The pair are expected to appear in federal court in Brooklyn on Tuesday afternoon. Sun was charged with violating and conspiring to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act, visa fraud, alien smuggling and money laundering. Hu was charged with money laundering conspiracy, conspiracy to commit bank fraud and misuse of means of identification.
It was not immediately clear if the pair had hired attorneys.
The arrests come six weeks after FBI agents searched the couple’s $3.5 million home in a gated community in Manhasset on Long Island.
Sun worked in state government for roughly 15 years, holding positions in the administration of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo before becoming Hochul’s deputy chief of staff, according to her LinkedIn profile.
Avi Small, a spokesman for Hochul, said Sun was hired more than a decade ago and fired in March 2023 “after discovering evidence of misconduct.” Small said Hochul’s staff immediately reported her actions to law enforcement and have assisted the authorities working the case.
According to the indictment, Sun blocked Taiwanese government representatives from getting access to high-ranking New York state officials and altered the messaging of state officials on issues of importance to the Chinese government – all at the request of Chinese officials. Sun also helped Chinese government officials travel to the U.S. and meet with New York officials by providing unauthorized invitation letters from high-level state officers, according to the indictment.
“Sun’s unauthorized invitation letters for the PRC government delegation constituted false statements made in connection with immigration documents and induced the foreign citizens into unlawfully entering the United States,” Brooklyn federal prosecutors said in a press release.
“Sun never registered as a foreign agent with the Attorney General, and in fact actively concealed that she took actions at the order, request, or direction of PRC government and the CCP representatives.”
In return, Sun received millions of dollars in transactions for the China-based business activities of her husband, tickets to events, employment for her cousin in China and Nanjing-style salted ducks that were prepared by a Chinese government official’s personal chef and delivered to the residence of Sun’s parents, according to prosecutors.
According to her government bio, Sun was appointed deputy chief of staff to Hochul, a Democrat, in September 2021. At the time, she was the highest-appointed Asian American in the administration.
After leaving Hochul’s office, she served briefly as a deputy secretary in the state Labor Department.
Source: nbcnews.com