US: Former aide to New York Governors charged with acting as ‘secret agent’ to China

Linda Sun, who worked as former aide to former New York Governors, Kathy Hochul and Andrew Cuomo has been charged with acting as a ‘secret agent’ for the Chinese government, CNN reported citing US Attorney Breon Peace’s statment.

According to an unsealed copy of the indictment, Linda Sun, who served as deputy chief of staff to both governors, faces multiple charges, including violating and conspiring to violate the Foreign Agents Registrations Act, visa fraud, smuggling, and money laundering conspiracy.

Her husband and co-defendant, Chris Hu, was also charged with conspiracy of money laundering, committing bank fraud as well as misusing means of identification, prosecutors said.

Their home was raided by federal investigators in July, CNN reported citing sources.

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,” the prosecutors said.

Sun and Hu were arrested at their Long Island residence on Tuesday morning.

Linda Sun and her husband, Hu, pleaded not guilty to all charges in federal court on Tuesday. A judge set bail at USD 1.5 million for Sun and USD 500,000 for Hu, with both required to limit their travel to New York City, Long Island, Maine and New Hampshire.

During the hearing, prosecutors outlined the couple’s alleged use of secret communication methods and shell companies to carry out their crimes.

The defendants allegedly used iCloud accounts, WeChat messages written in Mandarin, and other tactics to conceal their activities, the prosecutors claimed.

After the hearing, Defense attorney Seth DuCharme told reporters on Tuesday, “We have a lot of confidence in our case.”

“A lot of the allegations in this indictment are frankly perplexing, overly inflammatory,” he said. “As you heard in court today, we are looking forward to our day in court. The defendants are exercising their right to a speedy trial as soon as they can; we have a lot of confidence in Chris and in Linda.”

Their next status conference is set for September 25.

Sun “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.

Rich Azzopardi, a spokesperson for Cuomo, said in a statement that national security “must be free from foreign influence”, adding that, “While Ms Sun was promoted to Deputy Chief of Staff in the subsequent administration, during our time she worked in a handful of agencies and was one of many community liaisons who had little to no interaction with the governor.”