CNN
—
A former aide to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul was charged with acting as an agent for the Chinese government, US Attorney Breon Peace announced Tuesday.
Linda Sun, a former deputy chief of staff to Hochul, was charged with violating and conspiring to violate the Foreign Agents Registrations Act, visa fraud, alien smuggling and money laundering conspiracy, according to an unsealed copy of the indictment.
Her husband and co-defendant, Chris Hu, was also charged with money laundering conspiracy and conspiracy to commit bank fraud as well as misusing means of identification, prosecutors said.
Their home was raided by federal investigators in July, according to sources.
According to prosecutors, Sun acted as “an undisclosed agent of the Chinese government while her husband, Hu, facilitated the transfer of millions of dollars in kickbacks for personal gain.”
CNN has reached out to attorneys representing Sun and Hu.
Among Sun’s activities, prosecutors say she acted as an undisclosed agent of the People’s Republic of China and the Chinese Communist Party, acting at their request and engaging in political activities to further the interests of the CCP, including “blocking representatives of the Taiwanese government from having access to high level New York State officers.”
In the press release, prosecutors outline an effort by Sun to wield her position of influence in state government in order to “covertly promote the PRC and CCP agendas,” which prosecutors said were “directly threatening our country’s national security.”
While working in state government, prosecutors allege Sun used her position to obtain official New York State proclamations for PRC government representatives without authorization. Prosecutors also allege she tried to “facilitate a trip” to China by a high-level, unnamed New York politician and attempted to arrange meetings for visiting delegations from the PRC government with New York government officials.
“This individual was hired by the Executive Chamber more than a decade ago. We terminated her employment in March 2023 after discovering evidence of misconduct, immediately reported her actions to law enforcement and have assisted law enforcement throughout this process,” Hochul’s press secretary, Avi Small, said in a statement to CNN.
Sun has held several government titles for more than a decade. Public employment records and her Linkedin profile show positions spanned across several agencies focused on New York’s economic development and labor sector.
Sun and Hu were arrested at their Long Island residence Tuesday morning. The couple is set to appear in court Tuesday afternoon, the US Attorney’s office said.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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Publish date : 2024-09-03 05:10:00
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