Linda Sun is accused of steering lucrative state contracts to businesses linked to her family in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Yes, according to the sources, Linda Sun is accused of steering lucrative state contracts to businesses linked to her family in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. This has led to her being indicted on a host of federal charges.
Here are the key details from the sources regarding Linda Sun:
Positions Held: Linda Sun was the former Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Director for New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and later became the Deputy Chief of Staff to New York Governor Kathy Hochul, both Democrats.
Allegations and Charges:
She is accused of steering lucrative state contracts to businesses linked to her family during the COVID-19 pandemic.
She has been indicted on charges including bribery, kickbacks, fraud, and for acting as an unregistered agent for China.
Specifically, the indictment accuses Sun and her husband, Chris Hu, of reaping millions in kickbacks by exploiting her role on a Cuomo administration team responsible for procuring personal protective equipment (PPE) in the spring of 2020.
Sun allegedly forged documents to falsely claim that Chinese contacts had recommended two additional companies for contracts; one was run by her second cousin, and the other by a business associate of her husband's.
These contracts, which New York State signed with both companies in March 2020, amounted to over $44 million. Her cousin reportedly funneled about $2.3 million back to her husband, Chris Hu.
Charges include honest services wire fraud, honest services wire fraud conspiracy, bribery, conspiracy to defraud the United States, and tax evasion.
Ties to China: Sun, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in China, reportedly used her "homeland ties" to help New York obtain PPE from China. She connected the state with vendors recommended by the Chinese government. The sources also explicitly state she was charged with "acting as an agent for China" and that "Kathy Hochul's ties to the Chinese CPost too long. Click here to view the full text.
