Ex-New York official facing Chinese agent charge indicted for US$35 million in kickbacks
Former governor’s aide accused of steering healthcare contracts to favoured suppliers during coronavirus pandemic
The new charges against Linda Sun, 41 – once an aide to New York governors Kathy Hochul and Andrew Cuomo – and against her husband and co-defendant, Chris Hu, 40, included wire fraud, bribery, tax evasion and conspiracy to defraud the US.
“As alleged, Linda Sun not only acted as [an] 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” during the start of the pandemic, US attorney Joseph Nocella with the Eastern District of New York said in a statement.
“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,” he added.
Details of the superseding indictment were released on Thursday after the additional charges were handed down on Wednesday.
As outlined in court documents, in early 2020, Sun and a team of state employees drew on her connections in Beijing to obtain highly sought-after protective gear.