Former aide to New York governor charged as ‘agent’ of Chinese government
Al Jazeera
Linda Sun and husband are accused of having ‘laundered millions of dollars’ on behalf of China, receiving kickbacks in return.
The United States Justice Department has filed charges against a former top aide to New York Governor Kathy Hochul, accusing the aide of pursuing unlawful “political activities” on behalf of the Chinese government.
The aide in question, 41-year-old Linda Sun, was appointed as Hochul’s deputy chief of staff in 2021 and previously worked under Hochul’s predecessor, Governor Andrew Cuomo.
But in an indictment unsealed on Tuesday, federal prosecutors accused Sun and her husband Christopher Hu, 40, of using her position to benefit the Chinese government and profit from the exchange.
“Linda Sun, a former New York State government employee, acted as an undisclosed agent of the Chinese government while her husband, Christopher Hu, facilitated the transfer of millions of dollars in kickbacks for personal gain,” Christie Curtis, the acting assistant director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), said in a press release.
The indictment is the latest in a series of moves the Justice Department has taken to counter the “national security threats” it perceives from China.
