Linda Sun, the former aide to Gov. Hochul and ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo accused of working as a Chinese agent, also schemed to steer $35 million in state contracts to two PPE vendors run by a cousin and her husband at the height of the COVID pandemic, according to new court filings.Sun, 41, and her husband, Chris Hu, 40, were hit with the new allegations in a superseding indictment filed in Brooklyn Federal Court Wednesday.
Sun, who was working as Cuomo’s deputy chief diversity officer in 2020, was coordinating an effort to buy personal protective equipment and ventilators from China at the start of the pandemic, when the U.S. was grappling with PPE shortages.The Chinese government recommended several vendors, and Sun falsely added two companies to that list of recommendations, one run by a second cousin, the other by Hu, according to the indictment.
She falsely claimed that both companies were recommended by the Chinese government, and on March 21, 2020, altered an email she received from a Jiangsu province official, adding her cousin’s surgical mask business, the feds allege.A few days later, she sent an email to New York State procurement officials titled, “Already VERIFIED by Linda Sun,” telling them the company “came recommended by Jiangsu Chamber of Commerce” and that its surgical mask was the “gold standard,” according to the indictment.
She feds also found an internal state document on a computer owned by Sun and Hu that tracked PPE contracts, asking for each, “why did we do business with this vendor?” according to the indictment. The line for Hu’s company read, “referred by Chinese chamber of commerce” — but that referral was a fiction, according to the indictment.
Sun and Hu got $2.3 million in kickbacks for her efforts, the feds allege.In all, the state wired the two PPE companies almost $45 million between March and June 2020. The feds found a spreadsheet in one of Hu’s electronic accounts that estimated he and Sun would score $8 million in profits from the deals, including the kickbacks, according to the indictment.
“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,” U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella said Thursday. “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 was already charged in September with working as an agent of China during her time in state government and accused of helping shape state policy in exchange for millions in kickbacks and gifts — including specially cooked salted ducks for her parents.She was initially charged with violating and conspiring to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act, visa fraud, alien smuggling and money laundering conspiracy, while her husband was charged with money laundering conspiracy, as well as conspiracy to commit bank fraud and misuse of means of identification.
The new charges include wire fraud, bank fraud, conspiracy to commit offenses against the U.S. and tax evasion. Sun and Hu are slated to be arraigned on the new charges Monday.The indictment comes after a June 16 hearing during which Brooklyn Federal Court Judge Brian Cogan pressed prosecutors to file their superseding indictment “within a couple of weeks,” so that Sun and Hu’s defense lawyers could get documents and evidence through the discovery process as soon as possible. The couple’s trial date was initially set for July, but delays over classified material clearances have stalled that schedule.
“I am trying this case in the fall one way or another,” Cogan said, setting a new trial date of Nov. 3. “Or it’s never going to happen. Ever.”
Sun and Hu’s lawyers called the new charges a desperate attempt to keep the case on track.
“Scrambling to develop new theories and shoving new charges into an indictment as trial looms is both unfortunate and telling, but it is also unsurprising given how this case has proceeded and the government’s recent efforts to further delay trial in this case,” Sun’s lawyer, Jarrod Schaeffer, said Thursday.
Rep. LaMonica McIver appeared in federal court Tuesday as she continued to fight a three-count indictment accusing her of impeding and interfering with federal officers at a Newark, New Jersey, ICE detention facility in May.
Her attorneys argued she is being selectively and vindictively prosecuted because her political views clash with the Trump administration, CNN reported.
Judge Jamel Semper did not rule on McIver’s motion to dismiss the charges but raised concerns about Department of Homeland Security statements online referencing the incident.
The judge said it was prejudicial for “fact-free” social media posts from government officials to remain public while McIver’s case is pending, warning they could taint a future jury pool.
Semper noted that some government posts included information “counter to the indictment,” such as claims that McIver trespassed and that the incident was tied to Antifa activity.
Prosecutor Mark McCarren told the court that DHS press releases about the incident have already been removed and said he would push to have the remaining social media posts taken down.
One post still visible on the official DHS X account suggested members of Congress “stormed” the facility gate.
McIver, who was indicted in June, faces charges connected to what prosecutors describe as an attempt to physically interfere with the arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka outside the facility.
At the time, McIver was visiting the ICE site with Democratic Reps. Rob Menendez and Bonnie Watson Coleman for an oversight inspection as part of her work on the House Homeland Security Committee.
Defense attorneys said ICE employees delayed access to the lawmakers and obstructed their oversight visit.
Officials removed Baraka from the facility when he tried to join the group, and he was later arrested outside for trespassing alongside protesters. The charge was later dropped.
Prosecutors allege McIver “slammed” her forearm into an ICE agent and grabbed him in an attempt to restrain him while also striking another officer as she returned inside the secure area.
They said they plan to rely on surveillance and body camera footage showing a scuffle lasting just over a minute if the trial proceeds as scheduled on November 10.
McIver’s attorney, Paul Fishman, argued that any actions she took were covered by the Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause because she was performing official legislative duties.
Judge Semper questioned whether an alleged assault outside the facility gate could be considered part of congressional business.
McIver’s defense team described the prosecution as retaliatory and politically motivated, calling it “part of a broader partisan agenda of ending ‘wokeness.’”
President Donald Trump has previously commented on the case, saying the “days of woke are over.”
Fishman said McIver’s case stands in contrast to Trump’s past pardons of individuals charged in the January 6 Capitol riot.
“She was charged with something she never would’ve been charged with if she was a Republican,” he said.
Semper challenged the defense on that point, noting that the other Democratic lawmakers present during the May 9 incident were not charged.
Fishman said McIver was shoved by an ICE agent and caught in a confrontation she did not start.
McIver expressed concern on X, saying she has heard prosecutors suggest she could face up to 17 years in prison.“Hearing prosecutors say I could get 17 years in jail for showing up to do my job, for protecting the people that I represent, who have elected me to protect them—it is stressful,” she wrote. “Some nights are sleepless, but we have to stand up for each other.”