Linda Sun and her husband pleaded not guilty after they were arrested by the FBI on Long Island. Sun was charged with working as a foreign agent for China, accused of taking millions while trying to help Chinese government officials influence leaders in New York while she had a top job for New York Gov. Kathy Hochul. NBC New York’s Jonathan Dienst reports.
Linda Sun, a former deputy chief of staff to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, was arrested by the FBI Tuesday morning, a senior law enforcement official told News 4. Her husband, Chris Hu, was also arrested.
According to an indictment, Sun allegedly used her connections to New York State government officials to act as an unregistered agent of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Among numerous accusations of acting under the direction of the People's Republic of China's officials, Sun allegedly blocked representatives of the Taiwanese government from accessing the governor's office and worked to shape two unnamed politicians' public statements on issues important to the CCP.
In return, Sun received business opportunities in China, travel perks, luxury gifts and employment for a relative, the indictment alleged. Sun and her husband are also accused of money laundering dating back to January 2016.
Sun is charged with acting as unregistered agents of a foreign government, conspiracy to defraud the U.S., wire fraud, money laundering, making false statements and immigration fraud — which was in connection to unauthorized letters by New York State inviting China's government officials to the United States.
Get Tri-state area news delivered to your inbox.> Sign up for NBC New York's News Headlines newsletter.
“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," United States Attorney Breon Peace said, adding that Sun and her husband "worked to further the interests of the Chinese government and the CCP."
Both Sun and Hu pleaded not guilty in federal court on Tuesday afternoon, according to prosecutors. Sun was released on a $1.5 million bond and her husband will be released on a $500,000 bond, prosecutors said.
Crime and Courts
Covering crime and court proceedings in the tri-state
Sun's attorney, Jarrod Schaeffer, said that they were "looking forward to addressing these charges in court. Our client is understandably upset that these charges have been brought.”
Sun, 41, had also worked in the Cuomo administration. She was hired in 2012.
The arrests happened at the couple's home on the North Shore of Long Island, which she allegedly bought with money she received from the CCP. Other luxuries Sun and Hu indulged in included a $2.1 million condo in Honolulu, Hawaii, a 2024 Ferrari and a personal chef employed by a PRC official, the indictment detailed.
News 4 reported in July the FBI searched Sun's home in Manhasset. Sun and her husband, Chris Hu, share the $3.5 million home in a gated community on Long Island called Stone Hill. The couple purchased the home in 2021. Earlier this year, they placed the home in a trust, records show.
According to her government bio, Sun was appointed deputy chief of staff to Hochul in September 2021. At the time, she was the highest-appointed Asian-American in the administration.
Hochul's office said she was fired from the governor's office in 2023.
“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 press secretary Avi Small said to News 4 in a statement.
On Wednesday, Hochul commented on the arrest, saying "I am furious, I am outraged by this behavior." The governor said she personally was not interviewed for the investigation, but the FBI did ask her one question in particular.
"I'm not able to talk about it but it was about whether something was my signature and that was it," she said. "When I was working in the Cuomo administration as lieutenant governor, she was working on [China's] behalf. There were suggestions that I go to China, which I declined."
As part of their release conditions Sun and Hu must limit any travel to New York City, Long Island, Maine and New Hampshire, and cannot have contact with China's consulate or mission, prosecutors said.
Both Sun and her husband are next expected in court on Sept. 25.
