Former New York Official Charged in $8 Million PPE Fraud While Acting as Chinese Agent

Linda Sun allegedly steered pandemic contracts, obstructed Taiwan diplomacy, and lived lavishly with Chinese backing.

NEW YORK — In explosive new allegations unsealed in a superseding indictment, federal prosecutors accuse Linda Sun — a former top New York state official — of orchestrating an $8 million fraud scheme involving pandemic protective equipment while secretly serving as a senior agent for Beijing’s United Front Work Department.

Renewed focus on Sun’s case — including her efforts to influence then-Governors Andrew Cuomo and Kathy Hochul to strengthen ties with China while blocking engagement with Taiwan — comes just days after Czech military intelligence revealed that Chinese diplomats allegedly plotted to seriously harm Taiwan’s Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim during a state visit to the Czech Republic.

Prosecutors say Sun transformed her public office into a personal empire, funding a life of lavish luxury that included a $3.6 million mansion in Manhasset, a $1.9 million condo in Honolulu, a 2024 Ferrari, and exclusive perks such as staying in a Beijing hotel suite previously used by former First Lady Michelle Obama. In return for her loyalty to Beijing, Sun allegedly received VIP event tickets, elaborate culinary gifts prepared by a Chinese official’s personal chef, and lucrative support for her husband’s seafood trading business in China.

“During a global pandemic, Linda Sun allegedly leveraged her authority within the New York State government to secretly steer contracts to selective PPE vendors in exchange for millions of dollars in kickbacks to her and her husband,” stated FBI Assistant Director in Charge James Smith. “This alleged scheme not only created an unearned and undisclosed benefit for the defendants and their relatives, but it also exploited the state's critical need for resources in a health crisis.”

Sun’s alleged crimes extended far beyond profiteering. Prosecutors say she operated as a covert senior agent of the United Front Work Department.

“While serving the people of New York, Linda Sun secretly served the interests of the Chinese Communist Party,” federal prosecutors charged in court documents. “She actively blocked Taiwan’s diplomatic outreach, shaped pro-Beijing messaging in U.S. political offices, and enriched herself through undisclosed ties to Chinese officials.”

Among the most striking allegations: Sun repeatedly intervened to prevent Taiwanese representatives from meeting top New York officials. In one instance, she boasted to Chinese consular officials that she had “managed to stop all relationships between [Taiwan] and the state,” adding that she had “denied all requests from their office.”

Prosecutors describe a sprawling web of covert influence, including rewriting official statements to erase references to the “Republic of China,” orchestrating fake invitation letters to help Chinese officials obtain U.S. visas, and providing Beijing direct access to shape New York State policy — even preventing any mention of China’s mass detention of Uyghurs in Xinjiang.

Beyond policy manipulation, Sun allegedly enjoyed a steady stream of personal perks: luxury travel arranged by CCP intermediaries, high-profile show and concert tickets, and gourmet gifts — including Nanjing-style salted ducks delivered to her parents by a Chinese official’s chef.

Her husband’s seafood and PPE businesses reportedly flourished with Chinese state backing, turning their New York home into a nexus of elite connections and political favors. Sun and Hu’s financial maneuvers allegedly included laundering money through accounts opened using relatives’ identification, concealing millions in income, and dodging tax obligations.

As detailed in the indictment, at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sun used her influence with the government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to coordinate New York State’s purchase of PPE from PRC vendors. She then falsely claimed that two additional vendors — the “Cousin Company,” run by her second cousin, and the “Associate Company,” operated by her husband Chris Hu and an associate — were also referred by PRC authorities. In reality, both companies were directly tied to Sun and Hu.

With Sun’s help, the companies secured multimillion-dollar contracts. Sun, Hu, and their network never disclosed their financial interests, nor that they personally pocketed a share of the profits through kickbacks — a brazen violation of state ethics and procurement laws.

To conceal the scheme, Sun falsified emails to suggest that the Jiangsu Department of Commerce had recommended the Cousin Company. In one March 2020 email labeled “Already VERIFIED by Linda Sun,” she praised its surgical masks as the “gold standard” and claimed they were vetted by the Jiangsu Chamber of Commerce.

The Jiangsu Chamber reference, according to The Bureau’s analysis, could resonate with tactics observed just across the New York state border in Ontario, where United Front community networks surfaced in reporting during Canada’s 2025 federal election. In that campaign, Jiangsu-linked business associations were flagged for meeting with Mark Carney during his bid for Liberal leadership, ahead of his election as prime minister replacing Justin Trudeau.

A spreadsheet recovered from Sun and Hu’s computer showed that the Cousin Company paid them approximately $2.3 million in kickbacks during 2020 and 2021, none of which Hu reported on federal tax filings. Hu then laundered $1.5 million in three $500,000 increments through accounts created in a relative’s name, using the relative’s driver’s license image to disguise his control — timed just days before a final $6 million payment from the state to the Cousin Company.

Meanwhile, Sun also maneuvered to position the Associate Company as a trusted vendor, falsely citing a “Chinese chamber of commerce” referral in official internal documents, despite no such link.

A separate spreadsheet discovered in Hu’s electronic accounts outlined the massive profits expected from these contracts, totaling $8,029,741, explicitly marked in a column labeled “me” — stark evidence of their personal enrichment ambitions.

The new charges supplement earlier counts against Sun, including violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act, visa fraud, alien smuggling, and money laundering; and against Hu, who faces charges including money laundering conspiracy, bank fraud conspiracy, and misuse of identification documents.

The separate incident in Czech Republic—a plot to harm Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim on her visit to Prague in March 2024—involved Chinese diplomats surveilling and plotting against the Taiwanese leader.

"This consisted of physically following the vice-president, gathering information on her schedule and attempts to document her meetings with important representatives of the Czech political and public scene," a Czech military intelligence spokesman informed Reuters.

"We even recorded an attempt by the Chinese civil secret service to create conditions to perform a demonstrative kinetic action against a protected person, which however did not go beyond the phase of preparation,” the official said.

Editor’s Note: This story was corrected to note it was Vice-President Hsiao Bi-khim that was allegedly targeted according to Czech intelligence.