Linda Sun, a former high-ranking aide to New York Governor Kathy Hochul, was arrested alongside her husband, Christopher Hu, on Tuesday morning following a federal raid on their Long Island home earlier this year.
The arrests, confirmed by the FBI, came after a raid on their Long Island home earlier this year.
The FBI conducted a pre-dawn raid on the $3.5 million Long Island home. The lavish five-bedroom home, located in a gated community called Stone Hill in Long Island, was searched thoroughly by agents, though it remains undisclosed whether any items were seized during the operation.
Sources told the New York Post that the search warrant was issued by the US Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn, although officials there have remained tight-lipped, declining any comment on the ongoing investigation.
The reason for the raid remains unclear and neither Sun nor her husband, Chris Hu, have been accused of any criminal activity. No arrests were made during the operation.
Sun has had a long career in various government roles across New York State. Her tenure includes working under both Governor Hochul and former Governor Andrew Cuomo.
In September 2021, Sun was appointed deputy chief of staff to Hochul. At the time, she was the highest-appointed Asian-American in the administration.
She left her executive chamber role after 15 months and took a job as Deputy Commissioner for Strategic Business Development with the New York State Department of Labor in 2022.
However, she left state service last year following allegations of misconduct. According to sources familiar with the matter, the misconduct was serious enough to be referred to law enforcement, the Post reported.
Sun’s husband, Chris Hu, operates a high-end liquor store in Flushing, Queens called Leivine Wine & Spirits. He has also incorporated several businesses over the past decade — including one at the start of the COVID pandemic called Medical Supplies USA LLC, according to the New York Times.
According to the update from the DOJ:
Earlier today, in federal court in Brooklyn, an indictment was unsealed charging Linda Sun with violating and conspiring to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act, visa fraud, alien smuggling, and money laundering conspiracy.
Sun is alleged to have acted on behalf of the government of the People’s Republic of China (the “PRC”) and the Chinese Communist Party (the “CCP”). Sun’s husband and co-defendant Chris Hu was also charged with money laundering conspiracy, as well as conspiracy to commit bank fraud and misuse of means of identification.
Sun and Hu were arrested this morning and are scheduled to be arraigned later today before United States Magistrate Judge Peggy Kuo.
Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Matthew G. Olsen, Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, Christie M. Curtis, Acting Assistant Director in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), and Thomas M. Fattorusso, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), announced the prosecution.
“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,” stated United States Attorney Breon Peace.
“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.”
Mr. Peace expressed his appreciation to the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, the New York State Office of the Inspector General, the New York State Police and the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) for their work on the case. He also thanked the New York State Executive Chamber for its cooperation with the investigation.
“As alleged in the indictment, Linda Sun, a former New York State government employee, acted as an undisclosed agent of the Chinese government while her husband, Christopher 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 and CCP agendas, directly threatening our country’s national security. The FBI is committed to protect the American people from any threat actors who seek to influence officials at the direction of foreign entities,” stated FBI Acting Assistant Director Curtis.
“Sun is alleged to be an undisclosed agent of the PRC and CCP, using Chinese money and her influence within the state of New York to benefit the Chinese government. Sun and her husband then laundered millions of dollars for the foreign country and used the monetary benefits of this scheme to buy luxury vehicles and million dollars properties here in New York,” Thomas M. Fattorusso, Special Agent in Charge of IRS CI New York.
“It is with the unwavering determination of federal law enforcement to root-out foreign agents and their schemes that Sun and Hu will now face justice for their criminal acts.”
As alleged in the indictment, while working for the New York State government – including in high-ranking posts in the Executive Chamber of the New York State government and in multiple state agencies – Sun also acted as an undisclosed agent of the PRC and the CCP.
Acting at the request of PRC government officials and the CCP representatives, Sun engaged in numerous political activities in the interests of the PRC and the CCP, including blocking representatives of the Taiwanese government from having access to high-level New York State officers; changing high-level New York State officers’ messaging regarding issues of importance to the PRC and the CCP; obtaining official New York State proclamations for PRC government representatives without proper authorization; attempting to facilitate a trip to the PRC by a high-level New York State politician; and arranging meetings for visiting delegations from the PRC government with New York State government officials.
Sun also repeatedly violated internal rules and protocols within the New York State government to provide improper benefits to PRC and the CCP representatives, including by providing unauthorized invitation letters from the office of high-level New York State officers that were used to facilitate travel by PRC government officials into the United States for meetings with New York State government officials. 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.
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 for these and other actions, Sun received substantial economic and other benefits from representatives of the PRC government and the CCP, including the facilitation of millions of dollars in transactions for the PRC-based business activities of Hu; travel benefits; tickets to events; promotion of a close family friend’s business; employment for Sun’s cousin in the PRC; and Nanjing-style salted ducks prepared by a PRC government official’s personal chef that were delivered to the residence of Sun’s parents. Sun and Hu laundered the monetary proceeds of this scheme to purchase, among other items, real estate property in Manhasset, New York currently valued at $4.1 million, a condominium in Honolulu, Hawaii currently valued at $2.1 million, and various luxury automobiles, including a 2024 Ferrari. Sun never disclosed any benefits she received from representatives of the PRC government and the CCP to the New York State government, as she was required to do as a New York State government employee.
Hu also laundered unlawful proceeds through bank accounts opened in the name of a close relative but that were actually for Hu’s exclusive use. To open these accounts, Hu unlawfully used an image of the relative’s driver’s license.
The charges in the indictment are allegations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s National Security & Cybercrime Section. Assistant United States Attorneys Alexander A. Solomon and Robert Pollack are in charge of the prosecution, with the assistance of Trial Attorney Scott Claffee from the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section and Litigation Analyst Mary Clare McMahon.
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