Linda Sun Case Points to Wider FBI Counterintelligence Probe Into Numerous Alleged PRC Agents Across U.S. Governments

The filings and exhibits also flag Brooklyn power broker John Chan—and include defense claims that figures cast as suspect community leaders were major donors for Governor Kathy Hochul.

Left: Government exhibit showing Linda Sun with John Chan. Right: Image from The New York Times profile of John Chan, showing Chan with former New York Mayor Eric Adams and numerous American politicians at a similar Lunar New Year community event. Reproduced here for public-interest journalism in order to compare photo evidence.

BROOKLYN — In the landmark Linda Sun fraud and money-laundering case, the FBI’s dedicated unit for countering Chinese interference operations across the U.S. government was looking well beyond Sun herself, toward a broader set of suspected Chinese agents active inside New York State government, and toward a notorious Brooklyn diaspora power broker: a former Triad figure from Hong Kong, convicted of heroin trafficking, human smuggling, and illegal-casino racketeering, whom The New York Times has described as a political kingmaker and force in alleged pro-China election campaigning.

“His targets have been politicians on either side of the aisle who might be perceived as acting against the interests of the Chinese government — by supporting Hong Kong’s anti-Beijing protests, for instance, or attending a reception for a visiting dignitary from Taiwan,” The Times reported.

The man, John Chan—whom prosecutors flagged standing beside Linda Sun at a community event—is also tied to the same Chinese consul general and anti-Taiwan activities Sun was allegedly entangled with, and is so highly connected in Beijing and Albany that, even after receiving a reduced sentence in a major Chinese racketeering case, he drew public support from top New York Democrats, including Hillary Clinton, Senator Chuck Schumer, and Congresswoman Grace Meng, whose aide was also under the FBI’s scrutiny, as The Bureau’s investigation into case files and public records reveals.