A federal grand jury in Brooklyn has added charges against Linda Sun and her husband, Chris Hu in a superseding indictment returned Wednesday. The new charges stem from Sun's alleged participation in a fraudulent scheme involving personal protective equipment (PPE) production during the COVID-19 pandemic.
As part of the scheme, Sun coordinated government contracts with vendors based on undisclosed personal connections. Sun and Hu received millions of dollars from these vendors as a result of successful government contracts during the pandemic. These financial kickbacks were not disclosed to the state.
The charges filed against Sun on Wednesday include honest services wire fraud, honest services wire fraud conspiracy, bribery, and conspiracy to defraud the United States. Her husband is also being charged with tax evasion.
“As alleged, Linda Sun not only acted as 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 at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said United States Attorney Joseph Nocella, Jr. “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. We demand better from our public servants, and this Office will continue to hold accountable public officials who enrich themselves at the expense of the New York taxpayers.”
Sun, a naturalized U.S. citizen, was born in the People's Republic of China and resides in the Eastern District of New York. From 2012 until 2023, Sun held several important roles in New York State government. She served as Andrew Cuomo's Director of Asian American Affairs and later, as Deputy Chief of Staff under Governor Kathy Hochul.
The federal indictment details how Sun allegedly used her influential positions to coordinate New York State government's purchase of PPE from vendors in the People's Republic of China (PRC). Sun allegedly referred the NYS government to vendors explicitly preferred by Chinese interest groups. She also facilitated government contracts with the Cousin Company and the Associate Company, while falsely claiming that the vendors had been referred by the Chinese government.
The Cousin Company was operated by one of Sun’s second cousins, and the Associate Company was operated by Hu and one of Hu’s business associates. With Sun’s assistance, these companies each entered into multiple contracts with the NYS government worth millions of dollars each. Sun did not disclose her relationships with these companies, or that she and HU were receiving portions of the profit from the contracts.
"With this investigation, this husband-and-wife team with supposed ties to corruption has been rooted out," said IRS-CI New York Special Agent in Charge Harry Chavis, Jr. "And they will soon understand that in legitimate government spending, there is no friends and family discount.”
The new charges add to the existing charges against Linda Sun that were filed last year on September 3. That first round of charges included violating and conspiring to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act, visa fraud, alien smuggling, and money laundering. The indictment also adds to the charges against Hu, which include money laundering conspiracy, money laundering, as well as conspiracy to commit bank fraud and misuse of means of identification.
The defendants are set to be arraigned on Monday, June 30.