Linda Sun, the former aide to two governors accused of being an agent of the Chinese government and a resident of Manhasset, is scheduled to begin her federal trial on July 28.
U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan will preside over the trial of Sun and her husband, Chris Hu, who is also charged in the case.
Sun is a former deputy chief of staff for Gov. Kathy Hochul and had a 15-year career in government, beginning in 2009 as chief of staff for Rep. Grace Meng’s state Assembly office.
Sun and her husband were arrested in September, a month after FBI agents raided their Manhasset home. The raid was held before dawn on the morning of July 23 at Linda Sun’s Stone Hill gated community home on Saxony Court.
Sun, a naturalized citizen of the United States born in China, was originally charged in a federal court in Brooklyn with violating and conspiring to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act, visa fraud, alien smuggling, and money laundering conspiracy, according to the Justice Department.
Sun received additional charges of bribery and violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act connected to her money laundering conspiracy charge. Hu received an additional three charges of money laundering, according to the indictment.
She is alleged to have acted on behalf of the government of the People’s Republic of China and the Chinese Communist Party.
Hu was also charged with money laundering conspiracy, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, and misuse of means of identification.
Sun allegedly provided unauthorized invitation letters from the office of high-level New York State officers to facilitate travel by PRC government officials into the United States for meetings with New York State government officials, according to the indictment.
Her unauthorized invitation letters for the PRC government delegation constituted false statements made in connection with immigration documents and induced the foreign citizens to enter the United States unlawfully, the indictment states.
Sun allegedly concealed that she took actions at the order, request, or direction of the PRC government and CCP representatives. In return, Sun allegedly received substantial economic and other benefits from these representatives.
Sun and Hu allegedly laundered the monetary proceeds of this scheme to purchase, among other items, real estate property in Manhasset, 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, according to the indictment.
Hu also allegedly laundered unlawful proceeds through bank accounts opened in the name of a close relative, according to court documents.
Sun served under Hochul as chief of staff from September 2021 until November 2022, but has held many other government positions. These include director of Asian American affairs, Queens regional representative and deputy chief diversity officer under former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Her final position was in the state Department of Labor, which ended in March 2023.
Citing an unknown source, Politico reported that Sun had been fired from her Department of Labor job in March 2023 due to evidence of misconduct. Multiple publications reported this evidence to law enforcement.
