Chinese aide to top Democrat lawmakers owned mansion and Ferrari on $144k salary… now prosecutors make terrifying claim about where her cash came from

A former top aide to New York Governor Kathy Hochul enjoyed a life of luxury because she was an undeclared agent for China, federal prosecutors have claimed.

Linda Sun, 41, is accused of acting as an unregistered operative for the Chinese Communist Party and using her position to influence Hochul and ex-Governor Andrew Cuomo into actions favorable to Beijing.

Sun earned a government salary of $145,000, but was also receiving millions of dollars from side deals arranged by Chinese officials, prosecutors told her trial Monday.

She and her husband Chris Hu used cash to purchase a $3.6 million mansion in Long Island, $1.9 million condo in Hawaii and a 2024 Ferrari Roma, which sells for at least $243,300, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Sun allegedly indulged in Nanjing-style salted duck dinners prepared by the Chinese consulate chef and was regularly acquainted with Communist Party insiders.

She made frequent visits back to China and even celebrated the Communist Party’s 70th year in power at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, the court heard.

Prosecutors allege Sun received funds from China, which were then siphoned through Hu’s businesses. The couple are also accused of generating $2.3 million in kickbacks on personal-protection equipment imports during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Sun is charged with violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act, visa fraud, bank fraud and money laundering. She denies all wrongdoing.

Sun, who joined Cuomo’s staff in 2012, is standing trial this week in connection to the offenses. 

Jury selection kicked off in federal court in Brooklyn on Monday, with potential jurors reportedly being asked about their potential biases towards China and Taiwan. 

The juror questionnaire asked ‘do you have any strong opinions or views about the People’s Republic of China?’, Courthouse News reported.

‘Have you or anyone you know ever participated, in any way, with any organizations that work on issues regarding Taiwan?’ another question asked. 

The couple’s trial is being preceded over by US District Judge Brian Cogan, a senior judge who oversaw the case against Mexican drug lord Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman.

Guzman was convicted of murder conspiracy and other charges related to his role with the Sinaloa cartel in 2016. Cogan sentenced him to life in prison plus 30 years. 

In pretrial motions, Sun’s attorneys argued that she had no reason to register as a foreign agent. The defense said her conduct ‘aligned with [US] national objectives cannot credibly be characterized as advancing “predominantly a foreign interest”.’

Hu, who will be 43 later this month, also faces a slew of charges and has also pleaded not guilty. 

The Daily Mail has approached Sun’s attorney Jarrod Schaeffer and Seth DuCharme, representing Hu, for comment.

Sun ‘repeatedly violated internal rules and protocols’ of the NY governor’s office to ‘provide improper benefits’ to China and the Communist Party (CCP), according to the indictment filed by the Department of Justice last year.

She allegedly blocked representatives of the Taiwanese government from having access to high-level New York State officers and changed messaging on issues that involved the CCP.

Sun secretly provided a Chinese diplomat access to a state conference call, prosecutors alleged.

The couple is accused of pulling $15.8 million into the US through Hu’s lobster export business and personally profiting from a PPE vendor that Sun set up as a government supplier.

Officials also claimed that Hu would move undeclared cash from China to the US through his businesses, including a wine shop in Queens, and via other family members. The cash allegedly paid for the couple’s luxury homes and vehicles. 

The couple purchased a home in Manhasset, Long Island’s gated community of Stone Hill in 2021. They placed the home in a trust last year, records showed. 

They purchased their 47th-floor Honolulu apartment that same year.

Sun also allegedly received benefits including help for Hu’s China-based business activities and undisclosed tickets to performances by visiting Chinese orchestra and ballet groups, the indictment said. 

Sun worked in state government for almost 15 years, first in 2009 as the chief of staff for New York State Assembly member Grace Meng, who is now a member of congress.

Sun then held posts in the Cuomo administration starting in 2012, including as Global New York Trade Manager, Asian Outreach Director for the Office of the Governor and Queens Regional Representative.

The administration named Sun as chief diversity officer in 2018.

She was appointed as the deputy chief of staff for Hochul in September 2021, according to her LinkedIn profile. She remained on the role for about 15 months.

Hochul’s office last year said the administration fired Sun after ‘discovering evidence of misconduct’.

Sun then moved to a job at the New York Department of Labor in November 2022. She served as deputy commissioner for strategic business development, but she departed that job just months later in March of 2023, the profile said. 

A person familiar with the circumstances of her departure alleged Sun was fired after evidence of misconduct was discovered. 

The matter was forwarded to law enforcement at the time, according to insider, who spoke to AP on condition of anonymity. 

The person declined to detail the nature of the alleged misconduct. 

After leaving state government, Sun went to work as campaign manager for Democrat Austin Cheng in an unsuccessful run for Congress on Long Island.