Former aide to two New York governors accused of being Chinese government agent

A former aide to two New York governors was charged Tuesday with acting as an illegal agent of the Chinese government, using her government positions to discreetly promote Beijing’s agenda in exchange for financial benefits worth millions of dollars.

Linda Sun, who has held numerous positions in New York state government, including deputy chief of staff to Gov. Kathy Hochul and deputy diversity officer to former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, was arrested Tuesday morning along with her husband, Chris Hu, at their $4 million Long Island home.

Prosecutors said Sun, at the request of Chinese officials, blocked Taiwanese government officials from accessing the governor’s office and tailored New York officials’ communications to align with Chinese government priorities.

In return, her husband received help running a business in China — a financial boost that prosecutors say allowed the couple to buy a multimillion-dollar property in Manhasset, New York, a $1.9 million condo in Hawaii and luxury cars, including a 2024 Ferrari, the indictment says.

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Sun also received smaller gifts, according to the indictment, including tickets to see a visiting Chinese orchestra and ballet troupes and “Nankajing salted ducks” prepared by a Chinese government official’s personal chef and delivered to Sun’s parents’ home in New York.

If the allegations prove to be true, it would mean that Chinese authorities have managed to gain influence at the highest levels of state government in New York for almost a decade.

“As he claimed, while he pretended to serve the people of New York as Deputy Chief of Staff in the New York State Executive Chamber, the defendant and her husband were actually working to advance the interests of the Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party,” said United States Attorney Breon Peace. “This illegal scheme enriched the defendant’s family by millions of dollars.”

Sun’s lawyer, Seth DuCharme, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. Sun and Hu are expected to appear in court Tuesday afternoon, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Brooklyn said.

The case is part of a broader effort by the Justice Department to root out covert Chinese government agents operating in the United States. In recent years, federal authorities have accused Chinese nationals not only of secretly promoting Beijing’s interests but also of harassing and intimidating dissidents on behalf of the government.

Last year, the Justice Department charged two men with setting up a secret police station in New York City operating under the supervision and direction of the Chinese government.

Sun, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in China, worked in state government for about 15 years, holding positions in the Cuomo administration and eventually becoming Hochul’s deputy chief of staff, according to her LinkedIn profile. In November 2022, Sun took a job with the New York Department of Labor as deputy commissioner for strategic business development, but left that job a few months later, in March 2023, the profile said.

A spokesperson for Hochul’s office said in a statement that the administration fired Sun after “discovering evidence of misconduct.”

“This individual was hired by the Executive Chamber more than a decade ago. We terminated his employment in March 2023 after discovering evidence of misconduct, immediately reported his actions to law enforcement, and assisted law enforcement throughout this process,” the statement read.

The indictment says Sun, among other things, tried to prevent Taiwanese government officials from meeting with high-ranking New York state officials. The Chinese government considers Taiwan part of China.

It also outlines a series of conversations Sun had with officials at the Chinese consulate in New York in January 2021, when Cuomo was still governor and Hochul was lieutenant governor. Neither leader is named in the document, but is instead referred to as “Politician 1” and “Politician 2.”

After Chinese officials asked the governor to record a video about the Lunar New Year, Sun said Hochul could probably do so and asked for “talking points on things you would like her to mention.”

“Mostly holiday greetings and hopes for friendship and cooperation/Nothing too political,” her official told her, according to the indictment.

Sun later told another official that she argued with Hochul’s speechwriter over the draft because the speechwriter insisted on mentioning the “Uyghur situation” in China. She promised not to allow that, and the final speech did not mention the Muslim ethnic minority, according to the indictment.

The FBI searched the couple’s multimillion-dollar Manhasset home in late July but declined to provide details at the time.

Sun was charged with violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act, money laundering and helping people commit visa fraud and illegal entry into the U.S. Hu was charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to commit bank fraud and misuse of identification.

A spokesperson for Cuomo did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

Sun and Hu live in a gated community on Long Island called Stone Hill. The couple bought the home in 2021 but placed it in a trust earlier this year, documents show.

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