Linda Sun, 41 – once an aide to New York governors Kathy Hochul and Andrew Cuomo. - South China Morning Post
A former top New York official earlier charged with acting as a Chinese agent was handed a second federal indictment alleging she received kickbacks for steering some US$35 million worth of healthcare contracts to favoured suppliers during the coronavirus pandemic, federal prosecutors said on Thursday.
The new charges against Linda Sun, 41 – once an aide to New York governors Kathy Hochul and Andrew Cuomo – and against her husband and co-defendant, Chris Hu, 40, included wire fraud, bribery, tax evasion and conspiracy to defraud the US.
“As alleged, Linda Sun not only acted as [an] unregistered agent of the government of the People’s Republic of China but also enriched herself to the tune of millions of dollars when New York state was at its most vulnerable” during the start of the pandemic, US attorney Joseph Nocella with the Eastern District of New York said in a statement.
“When masks, gloves and other protective supplies were hard to find, Sun abused her position of trust to steer contracts to her associates so that she and her husband could share in the profits,” he added.
Details of the superseding indictment were released on Thursday after the additional charges were handed down on Wednesday.
As outlined in court documents, in early 2020, Sun and a team of state employees drew on her connections in Beijing to obtain highly sought-after protective gear.
But Sun also allegedly claimed falsely that China had recommended two additional vendors, one operated by her second cousin and another operated by her husband and his business associates.
Sun reportedly failed to disclose the alleged dealings, which involved routing government contracts worth millions of dollars to each of the two companies, as required in her capacity as a state official.
The couple reportedly siphoned off US$2.3 million in kickbacks in 2020 and 2021.
“This husband-and-wife team with supposed ties to corruption has been rooted out,” Harry Chavis, a special investigator with the Internal Revenue Service, said in a statement.
“In legitimate government spending, there is no friends-and-family discount.”
The indictment also alleges Sun falsified records to convince New York authorities that Jiangsu province’s commerce department had recommended her cousin’s company for its “gold standard” masks and that the “Chinese chamber of commerce” recommended the second firm operated by her husband and associates for its products.
The indictment claims that Sun and Hu failed to declare the US$2.3 million payments to tax authorities and “laundered the income” by routing three US$500,000 payments to American accounts set up by Hu in the name of a close relative.
According to a spreadsheet reportedly found in one of Hu’s electronic accounts, the total profits from the two companies that Hu expected to realise totalled US$8,029,741.
This week’s indictment follows earlier charges of visa fraud, alien smuggling and money laundering against Sun filed last September tied to her allegedly working as an unregistered agent of China during her tenure in state government.
Sun and Hu pleaded not guilty to the earlier charges following their arrest last September and were released on US$1.5 million and US$500,000 bonds, respectively.
The Chinese embassy in Washington declined to comment on the specifics of the case but pushed back on Sun’s alleged links to Beijing.
“The U.S. government and media have frequently hyped up the “China agent” narratives—many of which were later proven to be entirely unfounded,” said embassy spokesman Liu Pengyu. “China firmly opposes such ill-intended associating and unfounded smears.”
Jarrod Schaeffer, a lawyer for Sun, on Thursday said “shoving new charges” into an indictment with a trial approaching is “unfortunate and telling”.
“The newest allegations continue the government’s trend of making and publicising feverish accusations unmoored from the facts and evidence that we expect will actually come out at trial,” said Schaeffer, a partner at the New York-based law firm Abell Eskew Landau.
“Ms Sun vehemently denies these latest allegations and intends to vigorously contest them in court.”
Ken Abell, a lawyer for Hu, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the charges.
During her time working for New York, according to the court filings, Sun allegedly helped shape state policy in exchange for millions of dollars in kickbacks and gifts.
That included a 2024 Ferrari Roma sports car and property in Honolulu and on New York’s Long Island worth about US$6 million in total, along with specially cooked salted ducks prepared for her parents by the Chinese consulate.
Hu allegedly blocked representatives of Taiwan’s government from meeting state officials, provided unauthorised invitation letters from the office for Chinese officials and tried to arrange for a high-level New York state official to visit China.
Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China to be reunited by force if necessary.
Most countries, including the US, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state, but Washington is opposed to any attempt to take the self-governed island by force and is committed to supplying it with weapons.
Hu faces earlier charges for money laundering conspiracy, money laundering and conspiracy to commit bank fraud.
The defendants, both naturalised US citizens, are due to be arraigned on the latest charges on Monday. -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
