Ex-Hochul, Cuomo aide accused of being Chinese spy stays free as feds push new charges in $8M PPE kickback scheme
Linda Sun, the embattled ex-aide to Govs. Kathy Hochul and Andrew Cuomo accused of being a Chinese spy, will stay free on bail after facing a federal judge Monday on fresh bribery charges.
Sun her husband Chris Hu both pleaded not guilty during a four-minute proceeding in Brooklyn that set the stage for a potentially sprawling trial focused on accusations she served as a foreign agent for the People's Republic of China and Chinese Community Party while working at the highest level of New York's government.
A federal grand jury last week returned a superseding indictment that added more charges against Sun and Hu after the feds said they reaped $8 million in a COVID-era personal protective equipment kickback scheme.
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3 Linda Sun and Christopher Hu pleaded not guilty to new charges Monday in Manhattan federal court.
Gregory P. Mango
'Not only did Sun allegedly use Chinese money and her influence in New York State to benefit the Chinese government, it is further alleged that she used her position to steer multi-million-dollar contracts to companies controlled by family members and friends,' said Harry T. Chavis, Jr., special agent in charge for the Internal Revenue Service's criminal investigation office in New York.
The two Chinese-based PPE vendors that Sun steered contracts toward were respectively run by her second cousin and Hu and his business partner, the feds alleged.
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Sun allegedly even altered an email to claim one company had been recommended by a China-based chamber of commerce, when it actually was run by her second cousin, prosecutors said.
The cousin had allegedly given $2.3 million in kickbacks to Sun and Hu, the feds contended.
3 Sun's trial is scheduled to begin a day before her former boss Andrew Cuomo is on the ballot for New York's mayoral election.
Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Post
3 Gov. Kathy Hochus office fired Sun in 2023.
Gabriella Bass
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A judge kept Sun's and Hu's respective $1.5 million and $500,000 bonds — which they posted after they were first charged in September with acting as foreign agents for China — intact, meaning they'll remain out of federal jail until trial.
Sun, 41, who wore a blue dress, entered a not guilty plea alongside Hu, 40, during the latest arraignment.
Their trial is scheduled to begin Nov. 3 — a day before New York City's mayoral election in which Sun's former boss Andrew Cuomo remains on the ballot as an independent, despite being drubbed by socialist Zohran Mamdani in the Democratic primary.
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Sun also worked for the governor's office under Kathy Hochul until 2023, when she was fired after misconduct accusations surfaced.
'This individual was hired by the Executive Chamber more than 10 years ago. Her employment was terminated in March 2023 after discovering evidence of misconduct, her actions were immediately reported to law enforcement and we have assisted law enforcement throughout this process,' a spokesperson for Hochul said in a statement.
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